Richter Q1 earnings fall as sales slip on base effect

Pharma

Image by gedeonrichter.com

First-quarter net income of Hungarian pharmaceutical company Gedeon Richter fell 7.3% year-on-year to HUF 26.9 billion as sales edged lower, albeit from a high base, and margins narrowed, state news wire MTI says, citing an earnings report released early Monday.

Revenue slipped 0.4% to HUF 140.9 billion. The decline followed a double-digit increase in sales in the base period, when demand surged for generic drugs for chronic conditions as well as oral contraceptives ahead of lockdowns to contain the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The direct cost of sales rose 2.5% to HUF 62.7 bln, causing a 2.5% decline in gross profit to HUF 78.2 bln.

Operating profit dropped 3.2% to HUF 24.4 bln.

Richter booked a HUF 1.4 bln financial gain during the period, well under the HUF 5.7 bln gain in the base period.

Sales of oral contraceptives, Richter's biggest-selling products, fell 13.5% to HUF 24.7 bln. But turnover from its second-biggest seller, the antipsychotic cariprazine, jumped 37.1% to HUF 21.6 bln.

Cariprazine's success in the United States, where it is marketed under the brand Vraylar, made the country Richter's biggest market during the period, with sales of HUF 24.5 bln, up 26.5%.

Pharmaceutical sales in Russia dropped 18% to HUF 18.2 bln.

Domestic sales increased 2.2% to HUF 11 bln. Richter noted that it had 4.6% market share in Hungary, making it the fifth-biggest player. However, it was runner-up on the prescription drug market with 7.3% market share.

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