Henry Schein 2003 Annual Report Download - page 13

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ONEWORLD.ONECOMPANY. ONETEAM.
ATAGLANCE
INTERNATIONALGROUP TECHNOLOGY&VALUE-ADDEDSERVICESGROUP
In 2003 the International Group posted record sales of $577
million, 17% of total Company revenues, which represented
32% growth in U.S. dollars and 13% in local currencies from
the previous year.
The year was highlighted by particular sales strength in France,
Spain and Austria. The Group has an approximate 9% share of
the Western European dental, medical and veterinary markets in
which we operate.
The mission of the International Group is to provide best-in-class
capabilities on a Pan-European basis, offering products and
services to dental, medical and veterinary office-based
practitioners. We offer more than 75,000 SKUs to our growing
base of 170,000 customers located in 14 countries outside of
North America, including Austria, Australia, Belgium, the Czech
Republic, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, the
Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain and the United
Kingdom. In addition, we serve healthcare practitioners in 125
countries through Schein Direct™, which provides rapid door-to-
door air package delivery.
In 2003 the strategic acquisition of Hager Dental strengthened the
Group’s equipment sales and service presence in Germany and
added over 40 field sales consultants. In addition, Henry Schein
began the process of acquiring three of Europe’s leading dental
distributors—with our pending acquisitions of demedis GmbH, a
leading full-service distributor of dental consumables and
equipment in Germany, Austria and the Benelux countries, which
will further our strategy to be a full-service, high-value provider of
products and services to European dentists; KRUGG S.p.A., Italy’s
leading distributor of dental consumable products, which will
provide us entrée into Europe’s second-largest dental market and
further our Pan-European strategy; and DentalMV GmbH (Muller &
Weygandt), one of Europe’s leading direct marketing distributors of
dental consumable products, which will enhance our European
direct marketing capabilities.
There is tremendous opportunity for Henry Schein’s expansion in
Europe. Nearly 45% of Western European dental practices are
not active Henry Schein customers, and there is substantial
opportunity in the Western European medical and veterinary
markets. We are well positioned to help meet the needs of
medical, dental and veterinary office-based practitioners in many
countries around the world.
In 2003 the Technology and Value-Added Services Group
posted record sales of $74 million, growth of 11% from the
previous year, which represented 2% of total Company
revenues.
This Group provides leading software, technology and other
value-added products and services to healthcare providers in the
dental, medical and veterinary professions. We seek to provide
practitioners with products and services that will improve practice
efficiency and profitability while enabling our customers to deliver
high quality care.
Approximately one-third of all U.S. dental practices use our
DENTRIX®or Easy Dental®practice-management software. In
2003 DENTRIX was ranked by an independent dental products
research laboratory as being first in customer satisfaction, with
the fastest growing user base, and superior clinical features.
Through our Digital Dental Office initiative or “DDO”, we offer
customers a suite of technologically advanced products that
seamlessly integrate imaging, clinical and financial applications
for the dental office.
Our AVIMark®practice-management software has been installed
in over 6,000 companion animal clinics, representing more than
25% of the veterinary clinics in the United States.
In addition, we provide an increasing number of value-added
services to practitioners. We believe we are one of the dental
industry’s largest processors of electronic claims, with
approximately 25 million processed in 2003. Through Henry
Schein Financial Services, we offer low rates for equipment
leasing and financing, patient-financing options, electronic credit
card processing and lines of credit. Other services include
Henry Schein’s Continuing Education for Healthcare
Professionals program, through which participants can access
fully accredited courses on the latest healthcare technology in
person, in print or online.