German pharmaceutical group Celesio has reported strong revenue growth in its Irish businesses last year.

Cahill May Roberts (CMR), its Irish wholesale and distribution business, showed the strongest performance among the group's wholesale divisions in Europe, Celesio said. Revenues at CMR rose by 17.1 per cent to €299.2 million last year, compared to the overall European revenue growth of 3.1 per cent and market growth of 12 per cent in Ireland.

Celesio said the growth was driven though the combination of its wholesale, Movianto pre-wholesale and hospital services businesses. It currently has a 38 per cent market share of the hospital market, while its Movianto operation handles distribution for Sanofi Aventis and Wyeth, and last year won distribution contracts for Chiron and Zeneus.

Revenues at its Unicare pharmacy network grew by 8.2 per cent to €121.6 million last year, slightly behind the 10.9 per cent overall growth for Celesio's European operations.

"Performance in the 60 Unicare pharmacies in Ireland remained strong against a backdrop of a competitive marketplace which is still seeing investment both by existing and new participants," the company said.

It said there was still room for further expansion for Unicare in Ireland in the right locations.

"Given the Government agreement of a 20 per cent price reduction with pharmaceutical manufacturers for prescription medicines which came into effect from March 1st, Unicare Pharmacy will focus on increasing its pharmacy offering in new products and services to generate further growth," Celesio stated.

The company does not release profit figures for its wholesale and retail businesses on an individual country basis. However, pretax profits at the group rose by 6.4 per cent to €590.1 million in 2006, while revenues were up 5.3 per cent to €21.6 billion.