Day Lewis saw its sales hit £502 million last year, according to its annual report for 2023 published on Companies House late last month (August 21).

The UK’s “second largest independent pharmacy chain” remained in the black as it posted pre-tax profits of £8m. However profits were down 32% from £11.7m in 2022.

Its continued profitability saw the company declare an interim dividend of £3m. 

Read more: Day Lewis ‘pausing acquisitions’ as operating profits down 31%

At the end of March 2024, Day Lewis “owned or managed” 255 pharmacies in England, according to its report.

According to its review, Day Lewis “continued to outperform the market” as it posted “strong year-on-year growth in dispensing prescriptions, retail (over the counter) sales and pharmacy services”.

Day Lewis’s business review took note of the impact to the business from headline inflation-linked costs, noting “staff costs, energy, utilities and rent and rates”. 

 

Secure, growing market

 

The review’s risk report listed the Category M clawback mechanism as a price risk.

According to the annual report, the pharmacy chain, alongside the broader industry, has “lobbied for additional funding” to account for “the recent impact of inflation”.

Nevertheless, the multiple commended the sector as a “secure, growing market, underpinned by an increasing need for dispensing of prescription drugs and a government that wants to see community pharmacies expand”.

Read more: ‘Fast-growing’ pharmacy chain looks to ‘buy smart’ amid funding crunch

Day Lewis listed dispensing automation and 24/7 prescription collection kiosks (installed in 77 pharmacies) as its key investments for the company in the year.

Its staff complement across the group rose to 2,600 people, of which 530 were pharmacists and managers, 1,110 sales assistants, and 360 distribution staff.

Pharmacy licences worth £5.7m were disposed of and £3.8m were added in the year, as the company chose to “enhance” its estate by “relocating branches to superior locations, focusing on added value services, merging multiple pharmacies into larger single sites, and disposing of pharmacies with particularly low footfall.”

 

Big dipper

 

Last year, C+D reported that Day Lewis’s operating profit had dipped by 31% to £16m from £23.1m in 2021 - at the time it “owned or managed 267 pharmacies in England”.

In August, C+D reported that Pearl Pharmacy, a South West London and Surrey-based chain, grew its estate to 24 pharmacies by the end of October 2023 and added three more pharmacies after the reporting period ended, according to its latest financial report.

Read more: Britannia Pharmacy bitten by inflation as it reveals 96% profit drop

In June, Britannia Pharmacy’s pre-tax profit was revealed to have dipped by 96% to just £22,691 in 2023 as the independent multiple said it was “reeling from the aftermath of the pandemic”, in its financial reports published on Companies House.

And in May, Cohens Chemist reported a £5.7 million loss for the financial year, even as the multiple increased its total turnover by £21m to £253m in the year, according to its annual report.