Site Davitamon-Lotto - Message of 07/11/2006

Title: Omega Pharma to repeat Davitamon sponsoring success with Predictor
Message

As of the 2007 cycling season, Omega Pharma will replace Davitamon by Predictor as the main sponsoring brand of the Pro Tour cycling team with top cyclists like Robbie McEwen, Cadel Evans, Leif Hoste, ... In conformity with the current specifications the official name of the team will become Predictor-Lotto.

Davitamonincludes an array of nutriments that supplement the daily meals with the required vitamins and minerals. In order to be successful in the market of vitamin products, a strong brand reputation is a prerequisite. Sponsoring of the Pro Tour cycling team has significantly contributed to the success of Davitamon in strengthening its leading position on the Dutch home market as well as in establishing its market position in numerous other countries throughout Europe. In 2002, the year before Davitamon made its entry in the cycling world, Omega Pharma posted a turnover for this brand of less than EUR 10 million. Last year, Davitamon represented a sales figure of EUR 24 million. Although this considerable performance cannot be exclusively attributed to the sponsoring of the Pro Tour team, it did represent a major factor in the marketing approach for Davitamon over the past four years.


After four years of sponsoring, all objectives in the field of brand awareness have been met for Davitamon. From this basis, Davitamon can now continue to grow on its proper strengths. Consequently, there is room for another brand to benefit from this powerful marketing support tool. The international brand Predictor has been selected to succeed Davitamon as main sponsoring brand of the Pro Tour cycling team. At present, Predictor is available in almost all European countries, including the main cycling countries as Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy,…

Just as Davitamon, Predictor is one of the seven Star Brands of Omega Pharma, i.e. the international brands of the group. The Predictor assortment of home diagnostics represented last year a turnover of EUR 23 million. In the course of next year, a number of line extensions are scheduled to be launched. Similar to the objective for Davitamon at the beginning of the sponsoring program, Omega Pharma has the ambition to double the turnover of Predictor in five years’ time, thanks to the introduction of line extensions and the investments in brand awareness. The first designs of the team wear will soon be finished and will also feature the names of the co-sponsors like: Brustor, Q8 and Creyf’s. The main color will be the salmon pink tint that is used for the packaging of the best known product in the Predictor range, i.e. the pregnancy test kit.

Since its foundation in 1987, Omega Pharma has continuously grown and has become a multinational group with over 2,800 employees in 17 countries and an annual turnover of EUR 960 million in 2005. Through the recently announced acquisition of the Bittner Pharma Group, Omega Pharma will also become operational as of 2007 in the fast growing OTC markets of Central and Eastern Europe, including Russia, Ukraine and Poland. Omega Pharma is offering products and services with high added value to pharmacists and other medical professions. About 70% of its turnover is derived from prescription-free medicines and healthcare products (Consumer Health, OTC); the remaining + 30% from products and services for professional use by pharmacists, dentists, nursing staff and other medical professions (Arseus, B2B).