The bulk of the revenue and profit was generated by wholesale company Salus Veletrgovina, the biggest subsidiary in the group. It generated EUR 231.4m in revenue and EUR 3.7m in net profit.

The increase stems from an increase in demand in more expensive drugs, while the overall volume of products sold remained largely unchanged.

The management attributes the improvement to increased money flow of hospitals, a consequence of an emergency act that ensured additional funds to Slovenian public hospitals, many of which are struggling.

In general, the markets of prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs and supplements have grown by more than 4% last year, with Salus selling a total of EUR 709m worth of drugs and supplements.

More than EUR 550m worth of drugs were sold by Salus to pharmacies last year, which was just over 5% more than the year before. Hospitals bought from Salus just under EUR 150m worth of drugs, which was nearly 4% more than in 2016.

The management has called a shareholders' meeting for 20 April, proposing that EUR 3.5m out of a total of 38.6m in distributable profit be paid out in dividends. This would amount to EUR 35 per ordinary share.