German pharmaceuticals distributor and retailer Celesio reported a 26 per cent rise in pretax profits yesterday and signalled continued earnings growth for 2005.

The results for 2004, which were ahead of analysts' expectations, show the company generated pretax profits of €495.1 million on €19.2 billion of revenues, up 3.2 per cent from a year earlier.

Celesio, formerly called Gehe, owns Ireland's third-largest wholesale drug distributor, Cahill May Roberts, and the 58-strong Unicare chain.

Results for these subsidiaries contained within its 2004 annual report show that the Unicare chain of pharmacies reported revenue of €113.9 million in 2004, an increase of 8 per cent on 2003. The company added three new outlets over the past year and employs 864 in the Republic.

Meanwhile, its Irish wholesale drug distribution company, Cahill May Roberts, reported sales of €234.7 million in 2004, an increase of 9.7 per cent from the previous year. The company now employs 226 people.

The 2004 annual report notes however that the Irish, Czech, Belgian and Portuguese wholesale markets were characterised by more intense competition during the year. "Pretax profit is once again expected to be significantly higher than in the prior year," the firm said in a statement.