Zentiva held a press conference yesterday. The company said that it sees FY 2004 sales at over CZK 10 bn, which is in line with our forecast of CZK 10.36 bn. Zentiva reiterated its plan to expand into Poland, Russia and the Baltic states as it expects double-digit pharma market growth in these markets over the next few years. The company said that it has been positively surprised by developments in Poland and the Baltic states so far, although no exact figures were provided. We see the success of expansion into new markets as crucial for the company's growth as we expect it to maintain a stable market share in its core markets, i.e. the Czech Republic and Slovakia. No new information regarding Zentiva's acquisition/expansion plans was released. Neutral.
Tomáš Gatěk