[Image courtesy of www.allianceboots.com]
CBI member Alliance Boots recently released its preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2012, reporting revenue up 18.4% to £23 billion and underlying profit after tax up 10.2% to £693 million.
Alliance Boots continued to grow strongly in China as Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals Corporation, its joint venture in the country, made several acquisitions during the year to strengthen its position in key regional provinces. The joint venture performed well with good revenue growth, margin management, and control over costs, enabling the business to significantly improve profitability.
Commenting on Alliance Boots' preliminary results, Stefano Pessina, Executive Chairman, said, "Alliance Boots has again delivered double digit growth in trading profit while at the same time generating a strong operating cash flow to fund investment in growth and substantially reduce net borrowings. This performance, which reflects the excellent work of our teams, has been achieved through a combination of organic growth and benefits from the previous year's acquisitions, is particularly encouraging given the challenging economic environment.
"In the coming year, we expect the economic environment to remain difficult with continuing pressure on both consumer and governmental expenditure. This will generate both challenges and new opportunities for us.
"We are confident about our future prospects and ability to pursue profitable growth, both organically and through further international expansion. This will be supported by our strong operating cash flow and secure funding arrangements, which will enable us to continue to invest while at the same time reducing net borrowings. The development of new and existing partnerships will be a key component of our future growth."
Please click here to read the full results for Alliance Boots.
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