By region, Europe accounts for 69%, Latin America for 17%, Asia, Africa, Australasia for 13%, and North America for 1% of our sales. Europe thus remains our largest market with sales of € 341 million, an increase of 3% over 2010. We performed well in emerging markets such as India, Russia and Brazil, with growth rates of 22%, 21% and 20%, respectively.
France is our largest market
France remains our top-selling country, recording sales of € 104 million in 2011, 3.2% more than in 2010. Our subsidiary is meanwhile the number-one company in the French consumer health care market. The Bion® range again performed well, also thanks to a new advertising campaign. Sales rose by 13% to € 36 million. Bion® Energie Plus was launched in 2011. In addition to the ingredients of classic Bion®3 – vitamins, minerals and probiotic bacteria – the new product contains extracts from the Chinese medicinal herb schisandra, ginseng and a special co-enzyme to replenish the body’s energy reserves.
Germany
We generated sales of € 62 million in Germany, which was 8.3% more than in 2010. Sales of Intelligent Healthcare Solutions®, our brand of diet and beauty products for direct sales, for example via the home shopping networks QVC and HSE24, developed well, increasing by 76% to € 18 million. Sales of Kytta® remained stable despite heavy investment by competitors. Additional indications were approved, namely acute back pain and knee osteoarthritis.
United Kingdom and other European countries
In the United Kingdom, which is currently characterized by a generally difficult market environment, sales declined by 3.4% to € 52 million. We expanded the well-established Seven Seas® portfolio to include a range of health oils. These are fish oil products with different combinations of health-promoting additives, such as calcium, zinc, biotin, L-cysteine, garlic, gingko and vitamin B1. Sales of nutritional supplements for direct sales by our British subsidiary Lamberts Healthcare rose by 6.8%.
Belgium, another important European market, saw a 6.1% increase in sales to € 29 million, for which Femibion®, Bion®, and the local Mobility brands, were responsible. We performed strongly in Russia, generating sales of € 12 million. The majority of these sales were attributable to Nasivin®, which posted growth of 24%.
Consumer Health Care | Sales by region
Latin America
The Consumer Health Care division also performed well in Latin America, where sales grew by 6.6%. We also recorded a 20% increase in sales in Brazil to € 9.5 million. Sales in Venezuela surged by 42% to € 21 million. Sales of Cebion®, our main product in this market, advanced by 66%. In Chile, sales increased by 22%. Bion® is a success story in this market, where sales of this product grew by 35% to € 4.2 million. In Mexico, our largest market in Latin America, sales declined by 11% to € 31 million. This was mainly due to inventory reductions by a key wholesaler and the sharp drop in sales of Diabion®, a vitamin product for people with diabetes, following strong rebate activities in 2010.
Asia, Africa, Australasia
Sales also rose in Asia, increasing by 12%. India was a growth driver of the region, posting a 22% increase in sales. Nasivion® became the leading nasal spray prescribed by physicians, yet it is also available without a prescription. Nasivion® sales in India grew by 29% and totaled € 4.3 million. Indonesia, our largest market in the region, saw a 13% decline in sales, whereas business in Malaysia and the Philippines remained stable. South Africa, our largest market in Africa, again achieved a slight improvement in sales, which totaled € 9.5 million.
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