Pharmacy Chain 36.6 announces results for 1H 2006

13 JULY 2006, MOSCOW – OAO Pharmacy Chain 36.6 [RTS: APTK; ÌICEX: RU14APTK1007] announces preliminary sales and operational results for Q2 2006 and H1 2006 according to management accounts.

Consolidated Results

• Consolidated sales for H1 2006 totaled approximately $208 million, representing an increase of 54% y-o-y.
• The net debt of Pharmacy Chain 36.6 at the end of H1 2006 stood at 98.1 million dollars, representing a decrease of 11.8 million dollars from the beginning of the year.

Retail Business

• Sales in the pharmacy segment amounted to $158 million, up 70.8% y-o-y. Sales volume in Q2 2006 totaled 85.3 million, an increase of 17.3% q-o-q and 81.9% y-o-y. During 1H 2006 24.7 million purchases were made at the Company’s pharmacies, representing an increase of 57.2% y-o-y.  The average ticket in H1 2006 rose 9.8%, reaching $6.40.
• As of 30 June 2006, Pharmacy Chain 36.6 operated 582 pharmacies situated in 67 cities in 22 regions of Russia.  Sales in non-Moscow pharmacies account for 40% of the total sales volume in the retail segment.
• During H1 2006, 44 pharmacies were opened organically and 20 pharmacies were rebranded, 27 organically opened and 10 rebranded pharmacies in Q2 2006.  During Q2 2006, Pharmacy Chain 36.6 acquired 5 pharmacy chains, located in Kirov (17 pharmacies), Nizhny Novgorod (16 pharmacies), the Rostov region (14 pharmacies), Voronezh (3 pharmacies) and Novosibirsk (2 pharmacies). Sales growth in the Company’s pharmacies opened before July 1, 2005 amounted to 15.3%.

Manufacturing Business

In H1 2006 Veropharm’s sales increased by 32.7% y-o-y and amounted to $44.6 million. Sales in Q2 2006 totaled $24.9 million, representing an increase of 26.4% q-o-q and 33.2% y-o-y.

Management

Pharmacy Chain 36.6 announces the appointment of Julia Sborets as Chief Financial Officer.  Since 1996, Julia Sborets has held various positions in the financial department of Pharmacy Chain 36.6 and its subsidiaries.  Prior to this appointment, Ms. Sborets headed the budgeting and analysis department of the Management Company Pharmacy Chain 36.6 in her capacity of Deputy Financial Director of the Company.

The publication of the financial results of Veropharm for H1 2006 according to International Financial Reporting Standards is planned for 29 August 2006.

The publication of the consolidated financial results of Pharmacy Chain 36.6 for H1 2006 according to International Financial Reporting Standards is planned for 30 August 2006.

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Press-release