PIEX Group continue to grow for Fiscal 2022

Paris, July 11, 2023,

PIEX Group, a major leader in the distribution of health and wellness products in Africa, recorded sales of 144 million euros in 2022, up 6% on the previous year. This performance was achieved despite a difficult context marked by very high inflation, numerous supply disruptions due to the conflict in Ukraine (more than 5 million euros of lost revenue in 2022) – notably on the part of its European manufacturers who are heavily dependent on countries producing active ingredients – and political instability in the Sahel countries.

Growth was driven by strong gains in several segments:

• Growth in certain ranges such as infant milks (+40%), specialty ranges manufactured in Asia (+21.6%) and North Africa (+16.3%), cardiology specialty ranges (+12%), new ranges launched since 2018 (+58.6%) and injectable paracetamol (+80%) ;

• Growth in English-speaking sub-Saharan Africa (+32%), the result of several years of investment in the region, led by Kenya (+75%), Tanzania (+72%), Nigeria (+46%) and Ghana (+11%, despite a major economic crisis and the devaluation of the cedi by almost 50% between January and November 2022);

• The strong performance of French-speaking countries in Central Africa and the Indian Ocean, such as Burundi (+68%), Djibouti (+30%), Mauritius (+70%), DRC (+42%), Rwanda (+73%) and Chad (+32%), which should become growth drivers when the dynamism of the larger West African markets slackens;

• In the major countries of the French-speaking zone, PIEX Group outperformed the market, notably in Senegal (+7% in a market that remained unchanged), Côte d’Ivoire (+8% versus +4%) and Cameroon (-1.9% for PIEX versus -8%, a decline explained by the increasing complexity of import procedures and marketing authorization renewals in this country). The quality of our product ranges, the dynamism of our local promotion teams and the total commitment of PIEX partners to Africa, as well as the flexibility offered by PIEX Group to its partners, explain this good performance.

Economic outlook 2023

With further growth in the first half, PIEX aims to achieve sales of 154.3 million euros by 2023.

The alliance established in 2018 with Phillips Pharma Group for distribution in the English-speaking countries of East and Central Africa will continue to drive growth, as will the buoyant segments in 2022 mentioned above, to which should be added the Parapharmacy division launched in 2020 in the midst of the Covid crisis, whose contribution in 2023 will become significant, reaching 6.5 million euros (up more than 55% on 2022).

The specialized sales team set up two years ago has succeeded in creating and developing a new business in the sub-region, and its sustained efforts to boost a previously under-exploited portfolio are now bearing fruit.

PIEX Group’s financial objective is to pursue the profitable development of its activities while actively participating in market movements and developing lasting alliances with high-quality local and regional players.

Expansion of the PIEX Group’s activities

The PIEX Group’s project will continue with the expansion of its upstream and downstream activities, with external growth projects covering the exploitation of drugs and the development of service activities in drug promotion.

A number of acquisitions are currently underway or under consideration, and will enable the PIEX Group to strengthen its sales and profitability, with new companies whose margins on sales are higher than in distribution.

This expansion of PIEX’s organic scope through selective acquisitions will enable us to meet the Group’s main objective, which is to provide access to quality medicines for as many people as possible. This can only be achieved through solid operational and financial performance, the only guarantee of a sustainable business.