SEVENUM (dpa-AFX) - The success of electronic prescriptions in Germany has given online pharmacy Redcare Pharmacy 2024 a significant boost in growth. Sales rose by almost a third to 2.4 billion euros, as the company, formerly known as Shop Apotheke, announced on Thursday in the Dutch town of Sevenum. Sales of prescription drugs even jumped by almost two-thirds. The news was well received on the stock market.
After trading began in Frankfurt, Redcare shares rose by almost seven percent at times, but this only made up for a small part of the losses they had suffered in recent weeks. In the morning, it was still up 4.7 percent at 127.50 euros, making it one of the strongest stocks in the MDax, the index of medium-sized stocks. However, the stock had temporarily traded at more than 170 euros in November. Its price had fallen significantly in mid-December.
Industry experts had mixed reactions to the business figures. Analyst Michael Heider from Baader Bank assessed the sales trend as strong and saw the share price as a good opportunity to enter the market. However, his colleague Olivier Calvet from the major Swiss bank UBS saw his expectations as having been missed. While Heider expects the Redcare share price to rise to 175 euros, Calvet expects a further decline to 85 euros.
The e-prescription business in Germany has been growing rapidly since the middle of last year – around a year after its long-awaited introduction. The management of Redcare Pharmacy had been expecting this since the company was founded in 2001 – but the political and technical implementation was a long time coming.
But now the success is reflected in the business figures. Last year, revenue from prescription drugs rose by a total of 64 percent to 749 million euros at Redcare. In Germany, the increase was even higher at 69 percent to 254 million euros. Growth accelerated significantly over the course of the year: in the fourth quarter, revenue was 142 percent higher than in the previous year.
CEO Jasper Eenhorst spoke of an extraordinary year for the company: "The electronic prescription has become the new standard in Germany."
At €2.4 billion, total group sales were 32 percent higher than in the previous year and in line with the company's guidance, which the management board had raised in October to between €2.35 billion and €2.5 billion. Sales of non-prescription medicines rose by 21 percent. The number of customers also rose sharply, by 1.7 million to 12.5 million over the year as a whole. In the fourth quarter alone, 0.6 million new customers were added.
Redcare Pharmacy is headquartered in Sevenum, near the Dutch city of Venlo. Other locations can be found in Cologne, Berlin, Munich, Tongeren, Warsaw, Milan, Lille and Eindhoven./stw/men/mis