Sales up debts down at Mawdsleys
THE chairman of pharmaceutical wholesaler Mawdsleys Group Investment has hailed an “excellent year” which saw growth sales and a big decrease in debt.
The Salford-based group, which is made up of Mawdsley-Brooks, DE Pharmaceuticals, healthcare IT business Positive Solutions, logistics provider MPW and patient information specialist Luto Research, saw gross profits rise 4,3% to £45.4m in the year to the end of March 2012 as sales rose 1.3% to £342m.
The privately-owned group, which supplies more than 16,000 product lines and also has a subsidiary in France, said the improvement in gross profit had come despite structural changes in the sector.
Chairman Dr John Mawdsley explained: “The improvement is despite changes to the Pharmacy reimbursement system that put downward pressure on the margins earned from retail pharmacy.
“Furthermore, the reduced wholesaler distribution model continues to be adopted by other, generally smaller, manufacturers. Although this has reduced sales to hospitals and retail community pharmacy, other opportunities continue to be developed that have more than replaced business lost.”
During the year, the group which has around 900 staff cut net debt from £23.7m to £11.9m.
Although gross profit showed healthy growth, higher operating expenses saw operating profits fall from £8.1m to £6m and profits before tax from £7.3m to £5.1m.
