Chauvin's International Policy Starts To Pay Off

French family-owned ophthalmological, antiallergy and other drugs producer Chauvin has reported a 68% rise in 1994 sales to 582 million French francs ($117.5 million), scarcely a year after taking over the ophthalmological division of the UK's Smith & Nephew and the German drugmaker Ankerpharm. In terms of comparable company structures, the 1994 increase was some 12.5%.

Net profits remained stable at 36 million francs, but excluding factors relating to the acquisitions, the increase last year was some 41% to 52 million francs.

Company president Bernard Chauvin has said that a year of digesting these businesses has now passed, and a process of assimilation has started. This process is intended to convert Chauvin into a genuine European company while keeping it at a "human size," he said.