Bosnia's Biggest Drug Maker Bosnalijek Jan-Sept Net Profit Almost Doubles

The company’s sales through September rose 32% from a year earlier to 82 million marka, with the domestic market remaining its main one, Bosnalijek said in a statement.

Bosnalijek’s exports surged by an annual 110% through September. The company sells 361 of its products in 23 countries around the world.

Bosnalijek’s main foreign market was the Russian Federation, where 25% of its exports went. Libya was the company's fastest growing export market.

“Bosnalijek plans to close 2008 with revenue of 109 million marka and a net profit of 9.5 million marka,” the statement said.

The company stock rose 9.22% on Tuesday to an average price of 15.39 marka, according to data from the Sarajevo Stock Exchange, where the company is listed. The statement was issued after the close of trading.

Bosnalijek (www.bosnalijek.ba) is one of the country's two major drug producers. The other is the Bosnian unit of Serbia's Hemofarm, which Germany’s STADA bought in 2006.

The government of Bosnia’s Muslim-Croat Federation, where Bosnalijek is based, is its biggest single shareholder in the company with a 19.8% stake. The World Bank’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), owns 9.5% of the company, and the Libyan government holds a 9.0% stake. The remaining shareholders are local and foreign-based private and institutional investment funds.

The Muslim-Croat Federation is one of the two autonomous parts forming war-divided Bosnia. The other is the Serb Republic.

(1 euro = 1.95583 Bosnian marka)