(Bloomberg) -- Shares of online pharmacy DocMorris AG fell 20% for the second time in two months after the Swiss firm lowered its earnings and revenue guidance, reflecting a slowdown in sales of paper-based prescriptions and marketing costs related to a ramp-up of electronic versions.
The drop extended the stock’s year-to-date slump to almost 50%, sending it to the lowest level since November. The shares have lost more than 90% of their value since their pandemic heights of early 2021, when the company was known as Zur Rose.
According to Zuercher Kantonalbank analyst Gian Marco Werro, German consumers still need to become familiar with redeeming electronic prescriptions online.
“The ramp-up is still in its early stages,” he wrote in a note, adding that DocMorris’s e-prescription revenues aren’t growing as strongly as expected.
Shares of German rival Redcare Pharmacy NV fell as much as 5.1%.
For DocMorris investors, it’s the second disappointment in the space of little more than a month, following a record 21% drop on July 11 when the company reported sales that missed estimates.
Analysts have been increasingly wary of the higher marketing expenses incurred by the firm in its attempts to get German consumers acquainted with its online prescription service.
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