• Is pharmacy still a good investment?
• Are Pharmacy returns fair and reasonable?
• Does a viable and efficient market exist for pharmacy?
• Have risks increased significantly since our last analysis?
• Can pharmacy repay its loans?

Mr Sirianni said: "Pharmacy is still a good investment, relative to other markets.

However, the return on investment will vary dramaticly depending on the location, the growth and the price paid to buy the business."

According to Mr Sirianni, while risks to pharmacy have increased significantly, pharmacy is still a viable business.

"Some markets and states are heavily weighted against sellers, while other states have healthy opportunities to buy a business but overall, Australia-wide, there is a relatively efficient market."

Mr Sirianni said the main aim of the report was to answer the question whether pharmacy returns on investment were "fair and reasonable". The answer, he said, was "yes...as the effective rate of return on investment is about 18.25 per cent compound per annum".

Concerns arising from abnormal prices being paid for business sold had led to the launch of Market Watch, a wed-based data entry tool, to check capitalisation rates and market prices against market ranges and gather and report on market trends (www.express.medici.com.au).