Gedeon Richter Maintains Strategic Direction

In its 2020 report to the Budapest Stock Exchange, the Hungarian pharmaceutical company Gedeon Richter Plc. states that the company managed to service its customers on time and in full also into the last quarter of the reported year despite a sharp increase in COVID-19 case numbers in its countries of operation.

Additional protective measures were implemented in its facilities in line with the tightening security measures by different governments. The health and wellbeing of Gedeon Richter's team remained the focus of the management, while the supply of high quality and affordable medication was successfully held up worldwide throughout the entire year reported.

In spite of the new measures introduced during the second half of 2020, promotional activities in the last quarter did not change significantly compared to the previous months. Direct promotion represented around 50% of total marketing approaches in most of the company's markets.

Gedeon Richter's balance sheet remains strong and its cashflow positive, while its cautious approach to receivables management further adds to the company's resilience during the global economic turbulence.

The company's Chief Executive Officer, Gábor Orbán is quoted in the report as saying that "Gedeon Richter delivered on its mission also in 2020 ensuring a sustainable supply of high quality and affordable medication for our patients and doctors worldwide. Our vertically integrated operating model and our corporate culture of trust built on a strong pharma tradition have allowed us to maintain our strategic direction in spite of all the difficult conditions created by the pandemic. In order to achieve this, we had to introduce a whole range of measures and also keep higher stock levels throughout the year. Both our sales levels and margins came in at or above target, thanks to the improving margin of our core business and to excellent sales growth recorded by Vraylar® on the US market.

He adds that he is particularly pleased to report an increase in the share of specialty sales within our pharmaceutical segment, complemented by an expanding product portfolio, which was accelerated by a milestone acquisition realised at the end of the year. "By acquiring contraceptive patch Evra® from Janssen, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, Richter has become the company offering the widest contraceptive solutions to women worldwide. While the pandemic continues to affect our operations, we remain committed to a steady execution of our specialty pharma strategy in 2021.”