Richter's 1st-half 2007 profits plummet 41%

Hungarian drugmaker Richter Gedeon said that the 41% slump in its half year profits, to 18.5 billion forint ($101.3 million), which was in line with forecasts, was a result of an 8.4% drop, to 27.1 billion forint, in domestic sales.

Richter said that the decline, which was despite an 11.5% increase in export revenues to 86.3 billion forint, was a result of domestic price cuts, necessary to keep certain products on the Hungarian reimbursement list. The firm added that it was raising export targets for the rest of the year.