Sales & Earnings Down At Tamro

Finnish group Tamro says that sales for full-year 1997 amounted to 12.89billion markka ($2.34 billion), down 2% on the previous year's figure, while operating profit declined 8% to 223 million markka.

Tamro said that the main reason for the decreases was the 10% fall in the Swedish pharmaceutical market, which suffered from changes in the drug reimbursement system. The company was also hampered by the slower-than-expected development in profits from acquisitions made by its medical and laboratory units the previous year.

Sales in Sweden fell 12% to 7.65 billion markka, while turnover in Norway leapt 125% to 454 million markka. Domestic revenues reached 4.3 billion markka, up 8%. Tamro added that its market share was developing favorably in the Baltic states and northwest Russia.