Pharmacy Chain 36.6 sales drop in Q3

Russia-based Pharmacy Chain 36.6 has revealed a 30% year-on-year sales decline in its third quarter trading statement. Private labels, by contrast grew by 8.7% to RUR281.2 million (USD9 million), as the number of SKUs was lifted from 585 at the end of Q3 2008 to 713 by the end the same quarter of 2009. Pharmacy Chain 36.6 intends to capitalise on the weak economic conditions to drive private label growth, which is expected to “contribute significantly” to profitability. Total sales in comparable stores for the quarter were down 17% in Moscow and Central Russia, which fared slightly better than the Russian regions, which were down by 32%.