Servier Counters Weak French Market

The French pharmaceutical company Servier, faced with a hardening of the domestic pharmaceutical market, has increased its sales abroad.

In the year ended September 30, 1994, Servier's sales in France went up only 1% to 3.6 billion French francs ($666.8 million) but rose 38% in Southeast Asia, 42% in Latin America and 152% in eastern Europe.

These are all zones in which sales are relatively weak for a company which has traditionally achieved most of its turnover in France at generally good annual growth rates. Efforts are now being made to strengthen the position in Germany.