OREANDA-NEWS. Protek Group (PRTK:RTS, MICEX), one of the major pharmaceutical companies in Russia operating in all the segments of the pharmaceutical market (production, distribution, and retail sales), has announced its audited IFRS results for FY-2013.

In 2013, the Group's consolidated IFRS revenue increased by 11.0% y-o-y to RUB 139,311 mln.

The Group made a consolidated gross profit of RUB 17,544 mln., driving the gross margin to 12.6%.

The Group's consolidated EBITDA amounted to RUB 3,133 mln., with EBITDA margin reaching 2.2%.

The Group's consolidated EBITDA adjusted for contingencies and one-off events was RUB 4,284 mln., with adjusted EBITDA margin standing at 3.1%.

The key drivers behind the Group's financial performance in FY-2013 were:

for Distribution: better product range performance, commercial sales growth in Q1, Q2 and Q3-2013, operating cost savings in distribution;

for Retail Sales: organic growth, consistent multi-format strategy, private label portfolio expansion, better product range performance in retail sales;

for Production: higher margins and continued expansion of proprietary brands in production.

As at 31 December 2013, the Group's financial debt stood at RUB 58 mln., with negative net debt at RUB 3,545 mln.

Mr Vadim Muzyaev, President of Protek Group, has commented on the FY-2013 financial results: “An 11% increase in the Group's consolidated revenue is in line with the growth rate shown by the Russian pharmaceutical market in 2013.

The Production Segment boosted its 2013 revenue by 26.8%, its EBITDA margin going up from 21.6% to adjusted EBITDA margin 23.2% due to the growing proprietary brand share in sales.

The Retail Segment's revenue also rose by 21.3% driven by strong organic growth, consistent multi-format strategy, private label portfolio expansion, and robust marketing policy. For two years in a row, our pharmacy chain has been ranking first among the largest peers*.

The Distribution Segment's revenue boost was attributable to increased commercial sales and further improvement of product range. The slower growth of gross profit (as compared to revenue) was due to lower mark-ups driven by growing pricing competition.

We will keep on working to streamline our business processes and reduce operating expenses.”