UniChem 1st-Half Profits Rise 8%

UniChem, the UK-based pharmaceuticals group, has announced an 8% rise inpre-tax profits to L26.9 million ($42.6 million) for the six months ended June 30, 1997. Sales rose 16% to L832.9 million, bolstered by the consolidation of the group's joint wholesaling venture in Portugal.

Encouraged by its results, UniChem claims that its sales are growing faster than at German rival Gehe, which won the L684 million bid battle for Lloyds Chemists (Marketletters passim).

Unichem's wholesale business sales rose 8% in the six months to June, while Gehe's UK sales for the same period only rose 3%. As well as wresting the contract away from the German group to supply Superdrug's 120 pharmacies, the group's 6.6% retail gain outstripped the 3% rise at Gehe.