Ljubljana - Salus, the Ljubljana-based pharmaceutical wholesaler, increased sales revenue by 14% last year to EUR 458.28 million as net profit rose by 28% to EUR 13 million.

In a regulatory filing with the Ljubljana Stock Exchange, the company said operating profit rose from EUR 12.26 million in 2020 to EUR 15.28 million in 2021 and EBITDA was up from EUR 16.16 million to EUR 19.67 million.

"Salus Group surpassed the set annual plan in the January-December 2021 period," the company said on releasing the unaudited results.

The controlling Salus company saw its revenue increase from EUR 586,120 in 2020 to EUR 597,040 as it continued to post a loss from regular operations. Yet, net profit was up from EUR 4.77 million to EUR 6.09 million.

Its wholesale arm Salus Veletrgovina, and medical equipment and health products retailer Sanolabor keep facing increased liquidity risks due to late payments by Slovenian hospitals, worsened by Covid-19.

Salus Veletrgovina has also seen a fall in volumes of sold pharmaceutical products in certain segments of the Slovenian market and a change in the structure of sold pharmaceuticals in favour of more expensive medications.

The result is a fall in the price difference for a given market segment, as the wholesaler's margin is regulated and the volume and level of this margin are to a larger extent affected by the volume of medicines sold and to a lesser extent by the price of the medicines sold.