Ms Elena CODREAN, Chief Financial Officer, made a brief presentation of the financial results of Farmaceutica REMEDIA SA for the first half of 2020.
Mr. Dumitru MIHES, a shareholder, asked for details about the income and expenses related to rents. Ms. Elena CODREAN explained that it is a profitable activity because Farmaceutica REMEDIA SA owns properties that it rents to various economic agents and this activity does not have very high costs.
Mr. Dumitru MIHES asked for clarifications about the fact that the result of the transaction with Help Net Farma does not appear in the half-yearly report. Ms. Elena CODREAN explained that the transfer was completed on 31.07.2020, after the closing of the financial results for the first half of 2020.
Mr. Ovidiu SERDEAN, a financial analyst, asked how many pharmacies were left after the transaction with Help Net, whether new pharmacies will be opened and what percentage of the turnover of Farmaceutica REMEDIA Distribution & Logistics was made by Remedia pharmacies. Ms Elena CODREAN answered that 31 pharmacies remained, no new pharmacies will be opened for the time being, and that the pharmacies made about 20% of FRDL’s turnover.
Mr Adrian PANAITE, a journalist at Profit.ro, asked for details on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the turnover of Farmaceutica REMEDIA and Farmaceutica REMEDIA Distribution & Logistics. Ms Elena CODREAN explained that although in the first phase there was a surge in purchases of medicines by the population, generated by the onset of the pandemic, then the sales of medicines decreased, both at the pharmacy level and at the warehouse level, for several reasons: on the one hand, hospitals treated mainly COVID patients and stopped placing large orders for medicines and medical supplies, on the other hand, family doctors did not issue so many prescriptions either, and people avoided as much as possible going to medical facilities – doctors’ offices or hospitals. Since June 2020 turnover has started to return to an upward trend.
Mr. Emil IONESCU, a shareholder, asked if the financial result of the transaction will appear in the Income and expenditure budget of Farmaceutica REMEDIA. Ms. Elena CODREAN said that the budget will be corrected and that the results of the transaction with Help Net will be published in the 3rd quarter of 2020 report.
