Pharma group Krka posts record January-June sales, profit

Novo Mesto/Otočec – Pharmaceutical group Krka posted a net profit of EUR 177.4 million for the first half of the year, up 11% on the back of sales that reached EUR 808.6 million, up 1% over the same period last year, CEO Jože Colarič said at the company’s annual general meeting in Otočec on Thursday.

Operating profit dropped by 8% to EUR 200.1 million according to early figures and gross operating profit decreased by 7% to EUR 254.7 million, Krka said in a release.

As much as 95% of the sales were generated on markets outside Slovenia, where products worth EUR 764.8 million were sold.

Krka’s biggest single market, Eastern Europe, accounted for over 34% of the sales, or EUR 276.5 million, up 2%.

The dominant market within this region is Russia, where sales dropped by 7% to EUR 168 million, while growth was posted in most of the Eastern European markets and Asia.

Following Central Europe as the second biggest market accounting for 23.4% of the sales, Western Europe was third with an almost 20% share, and Germany the leader.

SE Europe placed fourth with 14% or EUR 112.3 million in sales, while in Slovenia, Krka’s sales rose by 9% to EUR 41.8 million, accounting for 5.2% of group sales.

Overseas markers accounted for 3.4% of all group sales in the first six months, translating into EUR 27.5 million, up 14%.

The Novo Mesto-based group’s investments in January-June amounted to over EUR 28 million, including over EUR 22 million at the parent company, the company said, adding the supervisory board would discuss the unaudited business results on 28 July.

Krka’s shareholders will receive a record dividend of EUR 5 gross per share, up almost 18% from 2020, as the AGM backed the management’s proposal to distribute EUR 156 million from last year’s distributable profit of EUR 337.52.

Krka plans to end 2021 with sales of EUR 1.5 billion and a net profit of around EUR 265 million. Investments should total EUR 114 million.

“Business results in 2021 will depend on the spread of Covid-19 and related measures in individual countries, on global post-pandemic recovery and on exchange rate fluctuations in Krka’s key currencies,” the release says.

At the end of June, the Krka group employed 11,607 workers, while together with agency workers, the count reached 12,524.

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