Communiqué de presse Hygie31 – Toulouse, le 08 Février 2024
HYGIE31: the European, in-store (pharmacy, optical, home care services) and online ecosystem recorded 2.7 billion euro in 2023 (+30%) and targets 3.2 billion in 2024
HYGIE31: BECOME ONE OF EUROPE'S HEALTHCARE LEADERS
Hygie31 Group, a leading player in the Healthcare sector in France, recorded positive results for 2023 with cumulated turnover of 2.7 billion euro (+30% growth) . It brings together 1,189 pharmacies, 48 eyewear and optical product stores and 38 medical equipment stores, as well as 4 e-commerce activities.
Through its incomparable, powerful, multidisciplinary "ecosystem", the Group has enjoyed a significant ramp-up in its business, in particular underpinned by strategic alliances with the ELSKER Group in June 2023, the DISTRIMED
Hervé Jouves
To further the success and competitiveness of pharmacies in its consortia and position them as the first healthcare point of contact for French citizens, HYGIE31 has strengthened its support. To this end, for the new tasks entrusted to dispensing pharmacists, the Group provides access to comprehensive training courses via its in-house platforms to all its members. This training enables pharmacy teams to develop their skills and knowledge of cross-disciplinary topics, products, and even relating to prevention, screening, vaccination and prescribing. HYGIE31 also helps its consortia of pharmacies roll out services that are complementary to their business, in particular teleconsultation.
In 2024, the Group will launch its Central Pharmaceutical Procurement Platform to strengthen its members' competitiveness and their operational efficiency. With the largest number of references on the market (+23,000 references), HYGIE31's Central Procurement Platform will also become the best performing. Regional consortia pharmacies will be the first to benefit from this opportunity, followed by all the other pharmacies.
At the same time, HYGIE31 is pursuing its development and has begun extension work on its warehouse in Châlons-en-Champagne, France. Thanks to an investment of over 10 million euro and the integration of Exotec's innovative technology (automation), this warehouse, which will be operational in July 2024, will cover some 10,000m² (versus the current 5,000 m²) and will be able to manage 70,000 references. This expansion aims to ramp up HYGIE31's growth in digital business, while ensuring its members enjoy rapid access to a wide array of products.
Finally, the Group is stepping up the development of its exclusive brands for all Group pharmacies. As such, HYGIE31 delivers 14 exclusive brands to Pharmacies Lafayette and 5 exclusive brands to its regional consortia in 2024. They will benefit from 100 mainly organic French-made references, covering 6 product categories: incontinence, phytotherapy, medical equipment, hygiene, aromatherapy and micronutrition. These brands uphold the HYGIE31 Group's promise promoting Healthcare for everyone.
Today, the back office accounts for 70% of a pharmacist's tasks. An incredible amount of time that the licensed pharmacist no longer devotes to their first role, that of being a local healthcare professional. Here, at HYGIE31, digital technology and innovation must be used to reduce the time spent on these tasks to enable pharmacists and their teams to provide expert advice to their patientss. Dedicated tools have as such also been developed to optimize running the business and to optimize pharmacy performance: decision-making cockpit for managing pharmacies, a module for managing profit margins and shelf space, a module for calculating end-of-year discounts, a module for calculating discounts for generics and wholesalers, and a module for proposing restocking.
In 2024, the Group, a precursor, a visionary and resolutely at the cutting edge, will launch a technological onslaught using artificial intelligence: as such, HYGIE31plans to invest 1 million euro over the next two years in artificial intelligence across 7 projects initiated end 2023. These projects will never replace pharmacists and their expertise, but will more so enable them to perform better, to set aside more time to improve their patients relationship and to meet the challenge of offering "the right product/services, at the right time, at the right price, to the right customer".
In line with this, HYGIE31 recently reinforced its IT teams and recruited a Digital Innovation and Information Systems Director, with a PhD in Artificial Intelligence. This director now has a 15-person team working to effectively address the growing need for technology to provide state-of-the-art solutions and personalized support to all the Group's members.
● HYGIE31 : an internationally-focused strategic vision
HYGIE31 group's international strategy focuses on gradual, targeted expansion that builds on sound partnerships and market opportunities. As it is already well established in Spain through Ecoceutics, the Group is now seeking to further secure its international position in 2024, namely be exploring Italian and Belgian markets.
In Spain, the Ecoceutics chain, one of the leading networks of independent pharmacies, offers a reliable platform with its 130 member pharmacies, which generate turnover of 200 million euro. In 2023, a dozen pharmacies rolled out the concept based on Pharmacie Lafayette's successful business model, and recorded excellent first results, with all pharmacies achieving a +20% increase in turnover. In 2024, Ecoceutics intends to expand beyond Catalonia to develop its national network. This initiative is the first in a strategy to spread to several European countries.
LAF SANTÉ : AN INCOMPARABLE HEALTHCARE MODEL FOR FRANCE
Laf Santé, Hygie31 group's historic business, recorded cumulated turnover of 1,094,000,000 euro in 2023. Laf Santé, which brings together the Pharmacie Lafayette (296 pharmacies), Optique Lafayette (48 points of sale) and Médical Lafayette (38 points of sale) chains, recorded growth of +11%, underpinned by significant business in its network as well as by the membership of new pharmacies (+33% in 2023) and the very strong momentum of its 2 other chains (+11% for its Optique Lafayette chain and +10% for its Médical Lafayette one). Laf Santé has announced that this momentum is set to gather pace over 2024, when growth should reach +19% bringing the chain's number of pharmacies and points of sale in France to 333.
All Pharmacies Lafayette are pharmacies owned and run by independent pharmacists. Far from the American "big drugstore" model, medicines now account for 60% of a Lafayette pharmacy's sales. The network's commitment to healthcare is also seen through just how much pharmacists are involved in carrying out their new healthcare tasks. For example, in 2023, half of Pharmacie Lafayette pharmacies were already equipped with a telemedicine terminal, i.e. more than double the national average
And, to be as close as possible to the needs of its 30 million patientss, Pharmacie Lafayette revamped its concept (furnishings, fittings, signage) end 2022 to improve their healthcare experience. As such, chain pharmacies boast a specially-designed and clearly-labelled healthcare space, where all advice and service tasks are carried out in the pharmacy. In 2024, Laf Santé aims to equip 70% of its pharmacies with teleconsultation solutions and intends to develop its information, prevention and screening actions. A host of initiatives are in the pipe to continue to improve the network's specific patients experience.
Against a backdrop of rising inflation, access to healthcare for everyone is more than ever a major concern for French citizens. Laf Santé, socially-committed for over 30 years, upholds French citizens' purchasing power in its 4 chains by guaranteeing low prices every day across a wide selection of references. This strategy is not something that can be improvised: it is based on a business model that is totally one of a kind on the market and that is virtuous for patientss as well as for Lafayette pharmacists.
Turnover for a Lafayette pharmacy stands at 4.8 million euro on average, whereas a traditional French pharmacy generates 1.95 million euro. After one year in the Pharmacie Lafayette chain, an independent pharmacy sees an increase in turnover of around +25% on average. This performance can be explained in part by the great brand awareness of the best-known chain in France (Sources: Qualimétrie and IQVIA studies). 36% of the panel questioned spontaneously cited Pharmacie Lafayette as the best-known pharmacy chain, a figure that increases to 58% in areas where the chain is established.
In 2024, Laf Santé will continue to promote and apply its promise of "low prices every day", by drawing more than ever on the power of HYGIE31 Group, but also by generalizing decision-making tools for setting prices locally, tools that it delivers to its members
The company also develops exclusive brands to enable patientss to benefit from premium-quality products (eco-friendly, organic, made in France and honoured with Victoires de la Beauté (Beauty Awards) on a regular basis up to 30% cheaper than leading brand ones. With almost 700 references spread over 14 categories, this offer is the most extensive range on the market, where exclusive brands stand out as an effective weapon against inflation. Laf Santé, proactively involved in R&D;, intends to place 95 new products on the market in 2024, including a new children's range,
and is targeting a 5% share of over-the-counter pharmacy, healthcare & beauty product turnover from its exclusive brands.
These brands, which are 90% sourced in France, have been a huge success, with growth of over 30% in 2023, a performance that will be repeated in 2024. Their value for money forges patientss' great loyalty to the chain and to its promise of healthcare and wellness for everyone.
Laf Santé continues to invest in human resources to support Pharmacie Lafayette members in their pharmacies. To this end, the "network management" team will see a staff increase of +25% (a trend also followed by the Optique Lafayette and Médical Lafayette chains). For Laf Santé, this increased on-site support must focus on the growing complexity of dispensing pharmacists' tasks and on expressing the full potential of Laf Santé's unparalleled value proposition for patientss (low prices every day) and for the chain's pharmacies (business growth and profit margin in value terms).
