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The latest set of accounts from pharmacy chain Kamsons show it remained in the black in the 2024-25 financial year despite a significant drop in EBIDTA.

Profit for the year to August 31, 2025 stood at £1.7m, down from £4m the year before.  

Turnover grew by 3.9 per cent to £139m, marking a slowdown in the “strong growth” reported in previous years, with turnover having risen by 11 per cent in 2023-24.

Operations director Bharat Chotai said: “These results have been achieved by the continued hard work in the year by branch staff, increasing prescription numbers by around four per cent as well as a continued focus on services provided.”

“Gross profit has only increased by 1.3 per cent [to £44m] due to increasing cost of drugs and medicines resulting in a slight decline of gross margin percentage of 0.83 per cent,” said the company. The previous year saw gross profit rise by 11 per cent.

EBIDTA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) plummeted by 37.1 per cent, falling from £7.4m to £4.7m, which was attributed to reduced sales growth and gross profit.

This was described as “a consequent of unprecedented increases in cost due to high inflation” as well as underfunding of the community pharmacy sector.

The company said: “The underfunding of the community pharmacy service by the NHS is a risk to the whole sector. There is a need for the Department of Health and Social Care to sustainably

Commenting on its future plans, Kamsons said: “The expansion of capacity and efficiency in the day-to-day operations is currently the focus of improvement with a multiyear project underway to expand the warehouse in Uckfield.

“This will not only handle branch stock but also patient orders by preparing multi-dose trays and consolidation of dispensed items.

“It is hoped that this enables branch staff to expand on the range of services offered.”

Kamsons Pharmacy, which is registered as the Waremoss Group, operated 84 pharmacies and one optician as of last August 31.

One new pharmacy opened in 2024-25 and another was closed “due to excessive rental cost being sought to renew the lease”.

Most pharmacies are in the South East of England, where the company is headquartered, with others located in West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Hampshire and Bedfordshire.

The number of employees rose from 1,231 to 1,266 during the 2024-25 financial year.