Pharmacies were one of the essential types of stores that remained open throughout the lock down period, but chains like Dr.Max still ended up losing money. The network’s director Daniel Horak says that despite the long lines at the beginning of the pandemic and the panic buying, his company’s revenues were hurt. “The overall impact of the three crisis months was negative,” he said. “In March, while our revenues grew 6.6 percent, that was when the health system was still working…But in April, the big drop started – revenues were 15 percent below our plan. In May, the drop was between 5 and 10 percent.” He said people stocked up on a small range of medicines they didn’t end up needing, but with most specialized clinics closed down, the number of prescriptions fell considerably. Prescriptions make up 60 percent of the revenues for the 460 Dr.Max pharmacies, said Horak. Last year, total revenues reached CZK 20bn.
