Navamedic margins improve while launching generics business

Navamedic ASA (OSE: NAVA), the Norwegian pharmaceutical products company, today announced its third quarter 2011 results. Sales grew by 25 per cent compared to the third quarter last year and Navamedic's margins improved. The company continues to invest in its new generic drugs business and launched its two first generic products earlier this month.

Navamedics' sales were NOK 17.0 million in the third quarter. All sales were generated by the Vitaflo business area, which is a Nordic distributor of patented drugs and healthcare products. While Vitaflo profitability continues to improve, Navamedic's results are affected by costs related to the build-up of its new generics business. The Group's EBITDA came in at NOK -0.9 million in the third quarter, an improvement over last year's third quarter EBITDA of NOK -1.7 million.

Generics developing costs were NOK 2.6 million in the quarter in addition to capitalised investments of NOK 3 million.

For the first nine months of 2011, Navamedic posted sales of NOK 52.0 million, which is a 32 per cent growth over the same period last year. Group EBITDA for the first nine months were NOK -2.9 million, compared to NOK -4.5 million last year. The Vitaflo business area had an EBITDA of NOK 4.9 million in the first nine months, up from NOK 1.9 million.

Navamedic launched its two first generic drugs earlier this month and is well underway towards building a position in this fast growing segment. The Company currently has 11 generic products filed for approval and expects to launch eight of these in the market during 2012.

"The third quarter results suggest that our combined business model is proving successful. Increasing sales and improving profitability in our Vitaflo business enable us to pursue investments in our new generics business," said Navamedic's CEO Olof Milveden.

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.