Mannheim (dpa / lsw) - The expansion of the European business of the Mannheim pharmaceutical wholesaler Phoenix has come to a standstill. CEO Sven Seidel said on Tuesday in Mannheim that the EU Commission had given the go-ahead for the acquisition of some European companies from US competitor McKesson. But that doesn't apply to France. He expects approval from the French antitrust authorities in the fourth quarter of this year.
With the takeover of companies in Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, France and Slovenia, Phoenix is planning to expand its position as Europe's leading healthcare provider. Without the approval from France, the takeover of the activities of McKesson with 7500 employees would not be possible.
Despite pressure on margins, price increases for transport and growing digitization costs, Seidel is confident about the future of the company with around 40,000 employees - almost 4,600 of them work in Germany, the largest market with a turnover of 10.7 billion euros. In the current year, Seidel is aiming to increase sales in almost all markets. In the 2021/2022 financial year, revenues had already increased by 8.9 percent to 30.7 billion euros. According to Seidel's forecast, earnings before taxes in 2022/23 will be at the previous year's level of almost 300 million euros.
The price increases for electricity, fuel and personnel have so far been offset by efficiency increases in storage and logistics. However, a limit has been reached in Germany. This will now be taken into account in discount agreements with the pharmacies supplied.
Phoenix supplies pharmacies in 26 countries with medicines, health products and, via a subsidiary, with hardware and software solutions, for example for checkout systems. The company operates 2,800 of its own pharmacies and offers services for the pharmaceutical industry.
