OPERATIONAL LEVERAGE IN PROFIT MANAGEMENT OF A PHARMACY ENTERPRISE

In Ukraine, against the backdrop of a reduction in overall production volumes and demand, the pharmaceutical industry has a high need for profit planning and forecasting, and therefore the study of indicators that affect it. The article is devoted to the possibilities of planning the profit of a pharmacy enterprise based on the indicator of operating leverage. In the Ukrainian scientific literature, operational leverage in the management of the profitability of enterprises is studied quite poorly, there are no studies on the pharmaceutical industry at all. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the method of profit management of a pharmacy enterprise using the indicator of operating leverage; development of an effective toolkit for forecasting the profitability of a pharmacy with any breadth of assortment; determination of factors for choosing the method of calculating operating leverage for pharmacy institutions; providing recommendations to pharmacy institutions on monitoring and regulating the level of operating leverage depending on the circumstances of the economic environment. For a pharmacy institution, it is proposed to calculate the level of operating leverage in different ways – depending on the available data, the features of the assortment and the goals of the analysis. The article presents methodical approaches for calculating leverage both for the pharmacy as a whole and for individual assortment groups or product positions. The formulas for forecasting the profitability of the pharmacy as a whole and the profitability of specific groups of medicines are given. The methodology is demonstrated on a conditional example. Different ranges of leverage values are considered. The factors that determine the amount of operating leverage for pharmacy institutions are described. The need to take into account industry specifics and leverage management capabilities is emphasized. Recommendations are given to pharmacy institutions on monitoring and regulating the level of operating leverage depending on the circumstances of the economic environment, the life cycle of the pharmacy and the characteristics of the cost structure. In order to increase the level of operating leverage, pharmacy institutions are recommended to reduce the variable part of costs, in particular, to look for cheaper suppliers, to increase the volume of purchases, to refuse piece-rate payment of pharmacists, etc.