Richter Gedeon's 1st-qtr sales rise 40% to $260M

Hungarian drugmaker Richter Gedeon says that its consolidated sales in the first three months of 2006 amounted to 52.8 billion forint ($259.5 million), a massive 39.8% increase over the same period in the previous year.

Operating profit during the period was 11.07 billion forint, up 62.0% while its operating margin was 21.0%, which compares well with 18.1% the previous year. Net profit amounted to 14.93 billion forint, up 72.3%, as diluted earnings per share totaled 796 forint.

The USA was Richter's top growth region for sales, netting the firm $19.2 million in the quarter, a 56.1% surge. Income from the Commonwealth of Independent States, which was the reason for the firm's 13% overall revenue hike for full-year 2005 (Marketletter February 13), saw sales rise 53.2% during the reporting period to $81.5 million, while domestic turnover declined 10.1% to reach $62.6 million.