United Drug chairman Mr Martin Rafferty plans to step down after more than 30 years with the company.

Mr Rafferty (71) told shareholders at the drug distribution company's annual general meeting in Dublin yesterday that he intends to retire on September 30th, the end of its financial year.

Former Ulster Bank chief executive Mr Ronnie Kells will succeed Mr Rafferty.

The company appointed Mr Kells as a non-executive director in 1999 and he has been deputy chairman since last year. He is also a director of building materials group Readymix, a group from which Mr Rafferty recently stepped down as chairman.

Mr Rafferty, who began working with the company in 1973, has been its chairman for over 30 years. He told shareholders yesterday that anyone who invested £1,000 on its flotation would have had shares worth more than €50,000 yesterday.

In a trading statement issued to the meeting, Mr Rafferty said United Drug had had a good first quarter. He predicted that good organic growth would continue to be complemented by acquisitions.

Speaking after the meeting, chief executive Mr Liam Fitzgerald said it had no specific acquisition targets in mind. "We are always trawling," he said.

Mr Rafferty's statement added that United Drug's wholesale operations continued to perform strongly. "This underlines our strategic intent not to follow the path of both of our major competitors in vertical integration, and, therefore, competing with their own customers," he said.