Novo Mesto, 21 March (STA) - The pharma group Krka generated EUR 1.33bn in sales revenue in 2018, a 5.2% increase, to see net profit rise by 14% to EUR 174m, show the company's unaudited results released on Thursday.
The recorded sales and net profit figures are the highest since Krka was founded 65 years ago, the report says.
Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose by 17.1% to EUR 232.7m, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were up by roughly 12% to EUR 343.3m.
Sales of products and services in Slovenia rose by 4% to EUR 88.9m, in eastern Europe they were up by 7% to EUR 412.9m, in central Europe by 5% to EUR 318.3m, in western Europe by 1% to EUR 287.1m, in SE Europe by 9% to EUR 176.2m and on overseas markets by 12% to EUR 43.4m.
The Novo Mesto-based core company generated EUR 1.23bn in sales revenue, a 2.8% improvement on 2017. Net profit grew by 6.2% to EUR 163.3m, EBIT by 1.2% to EUR 199.3m, and EBITDA by EUR 282.5m.
In 2018, the Krka group allocated EUR 96.3m for investments, of which EUR 78.0m went for the core company.
"In Slovenia, Croatia, and the Russian Federation, many investments in new production equipment and modernisation of infrastructure were in progress, which additionally increased production capacities. Krka also invested in its own production and distribution centres around the world," the company wrote.