The UK’s largest digital pharmacy, chains and bricks-and-mortar chemists are among the businesses who have filed their annual accounts over the last month.
Pharmacy2U - the pharmacy dispensing the most items in the UK according to the most recent NHS Business Service Authority (NHSBSA) data - last month (December 18) reported a post-tax profit of £2.7 million for the year ending March 31 2024 up from a loss of £5.2m the previous year.
But the distance selling pharmacy’s (DSP) parent company P2U Holdings reported a staggering loss of almost £10m in 2024.
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P2U Holdings said that in the year ending March 2024, the company made a post-tax loss of £9.7m down some £2.4m from the previous year’s £7.3m loss.
The pharmacy’s filing explained that the “post-acquisition losses of LloydsDirect” – which P2U bought for an undisclosed sum in October 2023 – “have been consolidated into these financial statements”.
But it remained optimistic, revealing that “revenue increased by 49.1%” to £258.7m in 2024, with “approximately half of the year-on-year revenue growth….driven organically” and “the significant growth of the Online Doctor business, with the balance attributable to the acquisition of Lloyds Direct”.
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“The number of NHS patients nominated to the group increased by 93% in the year to 1.4m (2023: £736,000)”, it added.
And it said that “the integration of Pharamcy2U and LloydsDirect is well advanced and the expected synergies have greatly improved performance of the group post year end”.
“Significant strain”
This week (January 7), bricks-and-mortar chain Jhoots revealed that its profits have taken a nosedive in its most recent Companies House filings.
Jhoots Pharmacy’s annual report for the year ending December 31 2023 reported a mammoth post-tax loss of £5m for the year, after making a profit of £1.6m the previous year.
“The group incurred a loss mainly due to the acquisition of new businesses, which were in their first year of operations”, the company explained.
Read more: Jhoots Pharmacy disposing of ‘existing branches’ amid £350k annual loss
But it said that “the group has returned to profitability, reflecting successful integration and improved operational performance” – adding that it had almost doubled turnover year-on-year to £21m from £11m.
“NHS funding is under significant strain – although we do not expect any reduction in funding, we do not anticipate any significant increase,” it said.
In September, the pharmacy’s sister company Jhoots Healthcare Limited revealed that it had suffered a loss of £355,799 in 2023.
“Offset the industry pressures”
Meanwhile, 37-pharmacy-strong chain and wholesaler Enimed reported that it had managed to “largely offset the industry pressures” of the financial year.
Its annual fillings, published last month (December 19), reported a post-tax profit of £1.3m for the year ending March 31 2024, down slightly from £1.6m in 2023.
Meanwhile its holding group Enimed (Holdings) filed a 2024 post-tax profit of £1.9m for the period – up from £1.5m the previous year.
While Enimed admitted that “the 2023/24 financial year has been a particularly challenging year for community pharmacy”, it said that its management “concentrated efforts on further optimising its central procurement operation to combat this, which has yielded strong benefits”.
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“This has largely offset the industry pressures that all contractors have felt which in turn supported the company where it targeted merger and acquisition (M&A) opportunities as they arose,” the company added.
In February, C+D reported that Enimed bought 25-pharmacy-strong chain Medipharmacy after it entered into administration.
Enimed said that “significant investment” into developing services also “started to show a return late in the financial year and bodes well for the forthcoming year”.
It added that turnover has increased slightly year on year, increasing to £44.9m in 2024 compared to £43.6m in 2023.
“The directors consider the performance for the year end and the financial position at the year end to be satisfactory, given the current trading environment,” the report added.
“Difficult financial year”
Profits for small pharmacy chain Badham Pharmacy took a hit in the year ending March 31 2024, despite a £4.5m increase in revenue year on year.
Companies House filings made on December 23 revealed that the company made a post-tax profit of £266,000 in 2024 – a 78% decrease from its previous year’s £1.2m profit.
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The report explained that over 2024, “turnover increased following the acquisition of five pharmacies” – “however, in terms of profitability, this has taken a decline during the year due to the NHS funding agreement not being adjusted for inflation alongside the rising costs of medicines”.
“Furthermore, the increased reliance on locums during the year has inevitably caused these costs to increase,” it added.
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Badham said that the “difficult financial year” led to the company breaching its bank loan covenants.
“The company proactively spoke to the bank in order to determine an action plan going forward [and] in response to this, the bank has waived its rights in relation to the two breaches and for the year ending March 2025,” it added.
“While the bank is monitoring the situation, it still views the company positively,” it said.
“Administrative expenses”
SKF. Lo Chemists, a chain with some 32 branches according to PharmData analysis of NHSBSA data, ended the financial year in the red.
In its annual fillings published on December 27, SKF. Lo reported a post-tax loss of £1.7m for the year ending March 31 2024, down from a loss of £232,000 the previous year.
The report revealed that the company “acquired a number of new pharmacies between March 2023 and September 2023 that has resulted in an increase in turnover of £12.8m to £29.4m”.
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“[But] an increase in administrative expenses of £4.5m to £9.2m…has resulted in an increase in operating loss,” it added.
Last month, Community Pharmacy England (CPE) data showed that 96% of pharmacy owners are either “concerned” or “very concerned” that “their business may not survive this winter” as it reiterated calls for “urgent financial support”.
And the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) this week threatened that “continued delays” to the pharmacy contract may leave it “with little choice but to advise pharmacies to take collective action later this month for the first [time] in their history”.
