Independent pharmacists are abandoning German distributor Gehe in numbers following the firm's plunge into the Irish retail market, one of its chief rivals said yesterday.
United Drug said its share of the wholesale pharmaceuticals industry climbed from 39 to 44 per cent over the past 18 months - due largely to Gehe's move into retailing.
United was now the principal supplier to 800 of the State's 1,200 independent pharmacists, said chief executive Mr Liam Fitzgerald.
His comments followed the company's annual general meeting at which chairman Mr Martin Rafferty predicted United would continue to post strong year-on-year growth.
Gehe's Irish distribution wing, Cahill May Roberts was not available for comment last night.
United posted a 15 per cent increase in turnover and a 20 per cent rise in trading profits in 2002. Last October it paid €7.7 million for British-based Ventiv Health - its third acquisition in three months.
In September, the group bought IntraVeno Healthcare, an Irish medical devices producer for €19.5 million.
In April, it acquired the privately owned British medical devices supplier New Splint for €11.4 million.
Gehe operates more than 50 high street chemists and signalled its intention to become an even bigger player in the market with the purchase last November of the Ryan pharmacy chain in Limerick.
In the first nine months of 2002, Gehe achieved a turnover of €13.6 billion, a 10.4 per cent increase over the same period last year. Profits before tax rose 17.3 per cent to €243.
