PLIVA WRAPS UP FISCAL YEAR WITH EXCELLENT RESULTS

ZAGREB, April 12 (Hina) - The Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva ended the 1998 fiscal year very successfully, generating a revenue of US$98.4 million, or 14.2 per cent more than the previous year. Pliva's earning per share increased by 15 per cent and reached US$4.93. A share-holder conference to be held in Zagreb on June 13 should end with the adoption of a motion for the payment of US$1.05 dividend per share, which is a five per cent increase in relation to 1997, Pliva's management board chairman Zeljko Covic told reporters on Monday. Covic described Pliva's business as "glorious", despite economic crises and difficulties in Croatia's midst. The Pliva Group has yielded a total revenue of US$511.4 million, which is a 25.6 per cent increase in relation to 1997; its operative profit rose by 41.2 per cent, and total investments totalled US$138.4 million. The price of shares, which fell for a period of time due to the Russian crisis, amounted to US$73.57. Pliva's market value has reached US1.68 billion. Sales on international markets register a significant rise, and almost 60 per cent of all profits are being generated from abroad. The company's market share in central and eastern Europe has increased from 18.1 per cent to 25.6 per cent, which has been boosted by the first full fiscal year of Polfa Krakow within Pliva. According to all indicators, Pliva is the most profitable company in Croatia and the largest pharmaceutical company in central and eastern Europe, in constant rise, to which, as Covic said, the "project of separating the parent business from non-parent business, that is, a strategy of restructuring Pliva," will contribute. Pliva's performance was published in Croatia and abroad simultaneously at 15.00 hours Monday. The company is going on a two-week "road show" across Europe and America, during which Pliva's officials will present the company's business results for 1998 to share holders. (hina) lml jn