Argentine pharmaceutical group Sidus has completed a round of voluntary redundancies covering all areas of the company. The deadline for take-up was Friday October 31.
Argentine pharmaceutical group Sidus has completed a round of voluntary redundancies covering all areas of the company. The deadline for take-up was Friday October 31.
The company’s objective was to reduce staff levels by 30% as part of a financial restructuring process.
The cuts took effect most quickly in the marketing and sales department, reliable sources involved in the process told Pharmabiz. Of 120 marketing agents, 95 remain, and all branches outside the capital Buenos Aires have been closed (Córdoba, Mendoza, Bahía Blanca, Santa Fe, Rosario, Resistencia y Tucumán).
In the administration department, there is talk of the possibility that Sidus might enlist the distributor Disprofarma, casting aside its own historic direct distribution blueprint.
This would enable the company, led by Marcelo Argüelles, to reduce its permanent staff in logistics and distribution, including those at its manufacturing plant in Pilar.
The savings are intended to cover debts of around $40 million. The company has liabilities of $107.7 million pesos with the Central Bank alone, as well as outstanding historic debts with providers and the government.
Sidus has sold several key assets since the separation of the group left its constituent companies in the hands of different families of shareholders. See article.
First was the emblematic Tafirol brand, which was bought by the Mexican company Genomma. Then the company sold off its headquarters in the Avenida Libertador in Buenos Aires, but Sidus still lacks the cash it needs to operate without a millstone around its neck. See article.
According to statistics from the consultancy firm IMS Health, Sidus turned over $389 million pesos in the 12 months up to September de 2014.
