Press release

Annual General Meeting of Zur Rose Group AG

- General Meeting of Shareholders approved all proposals

- Election of Dr. Heinz O. Baumgartner to the Board of Directors

- Continuing revenue growth in the first quarter of 2017

- Board of Directors considers raising additional funds to accelerate growth

All agenda items approved - 223 shareholders attended the Annual General Meeting of Zur Rose Group AG on 4 May 2017. A total of 2'547'268 voting shares were represented, amounting to 58.7% of the equity share capital. The General Meeting of shareholders consented to all proposals of the Board of Directors with a large majority. Dr. Heinz O. Baumgartner, CEO of Schweiter Technologies AG, was elected to the Board of Directors of Zur Rose Group AG. His election is to be seen in connection with the retirement of Dr. Lukas Wagner in 2018. Prof. Stefan Feuerstein, Chairman of the Board, is delighted about the election: "Dr. Heinz O. Baumgartner, for many years the CEO and before that the CFO of a successful, publicly listed technology company, will further enhance the expertise of the Board of Directors." (The individual resolutions of the General Meeting of shareholders are available at zurrosegroup.com | Investors & Media | General Meeting of Shareholders.)

Continuing growth in the first quarter - Following the comprehensive investments of previous years and the execution of a capital increase in the fall of 2016, Zur Rose Group continues to focus on growth. The aim of the massively increased marketing activities of DocMorris in Germany since September of last year is to achieve a significant acceleration in revenue growth. At the same time in Switzerland, Zur Rose launched the implementation of its omni-channel strategy with the opening of its pilot flagship pharmacy in Berne. In doing so, the company is reinforcing the integration of its sales channels.

The growth of the Zur Rose Group accelerated in the first quarter of 2017. Revenues increased to CHF 229 million in the first three months of 2017, up by 7 percent compared with the same period in the previous year. The Group's growth initiatives, in particular at DocMorris in Germany, have considerably increased demand for prescription and non-prescription (OTC) drugs. Accordingly, revenues generated in Germany increased by a significant 13 percent to CHF 112 million, while in the stable Swiss business revenues grew by 2 percent to CHF 117 million. As anticipated, earnings were affected by increased marketing and personnel expenses amounting to around CHF 8 million in total. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came to minus CHF 5.8 million (previous year: CHF 2.4 million) and net income (net loss) amounted to minus CHF 9.5 million (previous year: minus CHF 0.9 million).

Board of Directors considers raising additional funds to accelerate growth - On occasion of the General Meeting of shareholders, the Board of Directors of Zur Rose Group AG stated its conviction that the position of Zur Rose Group has continued to improve with regard to future growth opportunities. On the one hand, demand for non-prescription (OTC) drugs is to be further boosted by the intensified marketing activities in Germany. On the other hand, the lifting of the discount ban for mail-order pharmacies located in other EU countries by the European Court last October led to a surge in new customers and an increase in revenues in the field of prescription medicines, which could be further reinforced. The cooperation with Migros announced in December 2016 for the further implementation of the omni-channel strategy in Switzerland also has the potential to strengthen the company's market position. Furthermore, structural trends such as demographic change and the associated increased multimorbidity (more than one illness at the same time), advancing digitisation and cost pressures in the health sector are - in the opinion of the Board of Directors - key drivers for the business model of Zur Rose Group. With the further expansion of the digital service portfolio by connecting data, the Group intends to make further contributions to therapy compliance, to improve healthcare provision and to reduce costs for the healthcare system and the insured persons.

In order to exploit these additional growth opportunities, the Board of Directors is evaluating options for raising additional funds. The options which are being assessed by UBS and Berenberg on behalf of Zur Rose Group include an initial public offering with capital increase, further private funding as well as additional debt financing. The Zur Rose Group intends to make use of the wide range of growth opportunities on offer by the market and to further expand the strong position of the Group in the European pharmaceutical mail-order sector. The Board of Directors may, if appropriate, send out an invitation to an Extraordinary General Meeting in the coming weeks in order to lay the foundations for the next growth steps.

In case of doubt, the German original of this press release prevails.

Consolidated income statement

Consolidated balance sheet

Contact

Lisa Lüthi, Head of Corporate Communications
E-Mail: lisa.luethi@zurrose.com, phone: +41 52 724 08 14

Zur Rose Group

Operating under the "Zur Rose" and "DocMorris" brands, the Swiss-based Zur Rose Group is Europe's largest mail-order pharmacies and one of Switzerland's leading wholesale suppliers to medical doctors. Through our business model, we help to ensure safe, reliable and high-quality pharmaceutical care. We also excel in developing innovative medicines management services to increase the effectiveness of the medication process. This creation of added value, our strong focus on patients and our commitment to supply pharmaceuticals at low cost make our Group an important strategic partner for healthcare providers, payers and industry.

The Zur Rose Group is headquartered in Frauenfeld, which is also the base for serving the Swiss market. In Germany and Austria, we operate through subsidiaries in Heerlen (Netherlands) and Halle an der Saale (Germany). Furthermore, we hold a majority interest in BlueCare in Winterthur, the leading provider of networking systems in the Swiss healthcare market. Employing more than 800 people at our various locations, the Zur Rose Group generated revenue of CHF 880 million in 2016.

Zur Rose Group AG's shares (Swiss security no. 4261528, ISIN CH0042615283) are traded on the Berner Kantonalbank's OTC-X, Zürcher Kantonalbank's eKMU-X and Lienhardt & Partners Private Bank Zurich Ltd's trading platforms. The CHF 50 million corporate bond issued in November 2012 for the purpose of financing the DocMorris acquisition is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (Swiss security no. 19972936, ISIN CH0199729366, ticker symbol ZRO12).

Disclaimer

This communication may contain statements about the future that use words such as, for example, "believe", "assume", "expect" and other similar expressions. Such statements about the future are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which can cause the true results of the company to differ significantly from that which is expressly or implicitly assumed in these statements. In view of these uncertainties, the reader should not depend on this type of statement about the future. The company gives no undertaking whatever to update such statements regarding the future, or to adapt them to future events or developments.