Pharmacy Chain 36.6. Results for nine months of 2006

OCTOBER 12, 2006, MOSCOW – Pharmacy Chain 36.6 [RTS: APTK; MICEX: RU14APTK1007] announces preliminary sales and operational figures for the first nine months of 2006, in accordance with its management accounts.

Aggregated Figures

• Aggregated sales for the first nine months of 2006 amounted to approximately $330 million, a 58% gain year on year. -
• The net debt of Pharmacy Chain 36.6 at the end of the first nine months is calculated at $183 million.

Retail Segment

• Retail sales amounted to $252.5 million over the first nine months of 2006, having risen by 78.7% y-o-y. The sales volume in Q3 2006 amounted to $94.5 million, rising 93.7% y-o-y and 10.7% compared with Q2 2006. The rise in sales at pharmacies opened or acquired before October 1, 2005 amounted to 19.8%.
• In the first nine months of 2006, 43.2 million purchases were made in the chain’s pharmacies, an increase of 78.9% y-o-y. The average bill in pharmacies working for over a year grew by 12.8% to $7.3 in the first nine months of 2006: in Moscow pharmacies the average bill rose by 22.8% to $10.2, and in the regions by 25.6% to $4.5.
• Sales per square meter in pharmacies operating for over a year amounted to $7,300, rising by 20.6% y-o-y; in Moscow these figures have risen by 14.3% to $8,500, while in the regions sales per square meter have increased by 28.9% to $5,100.
• According to figures from September 30, 2006, Pharmacy Chain 36.6 consists of 757 pharmacies located in 70 cities of 23 Russian regions. Sales in regional pharmacies constitute 44.1% of total sales in the retail segment.
• During Q3 2006 organic growth totalled 18 new pharmacies, and 22 pharmacies were re-branded. During Q3 Pharmacy Chain 36.6 acquired four pharmacy chains located in: Moscow and St. Petersburg (81 pharmacies), Rostov-on-Don (31 pharmacies), the Orenburg Region (47 pharmacies) and Novosibirsk (3 pharmacies).

Veropharm

• By the end of the first nine months of 2006 Veropharm’s sales grew by 26.9% y-o-y and reached $68.9 million. Sales for Q3 2006 constituted $24.3 million and grew by 17.5% y-o-y. Sales in Q3 2006 decreased by 2.6% compared to Q2 2006 due to a decrease in sales for the Federal Reimbursement Program (FRP) and seasonality factor.

The results of OAO Veropharm’s financial activity for 9 months of 2006, prepared in accordance with international financial reporting standards, is planned for November 22, 2006.

Release of the consolidated financial results of OAO Pharmacy Chain 36.6 for the first 9 months of 2006, prepared in accordance with international financial reporting standards, is planned for November 23, 2006.

(PDF, 47,11 ÊÁ)

Press-release