Thank you for standing by. Welcome everyone to Dimed's conference call to discuss results relative to Q3 2021. Here with us today, we have Julio Mottin Neto, the company's CEO, and Antonio Napp, the company's CFO and IRO. This event is being recorded and will be available at the company's IR website, and all participants will be connected in listen-only mode during the company's remarks. At the end, we will start a Q&A session when further instructions will be provided.
Before moving on, we would like to say that forward-looking statements made during this conference call concerning the company's business outlook and also financial and operating targets and projections are based on beliefs and assumptions on the part of the company's management and also on information currently available. Forward-looking statements are no guarantee of performance. They involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions as they refer to future events, and therefore depend on circumstances that may or may not materialize.
Investors should have in mind that general economic conditions, industry conditions, and other operating factors may affect the company's future performance and thus lead to results that will differ considerably from those expressing these forward-looking statements. I would like now to turn the floor over to Antonio Napp, the company's CFO and IRO, who will start the presentation. Please, Mr. Napp, you have the floor.
I apologize for the technical glitch. We will now resume our results conference call. Starting, as I was saying, in our second slide, we can see the main highlights of Panvel within this Q3 2020. We reached a growth in sales of 28.1% in the quarter, and that growth was boosted by a larger market share across all states in the southern region, reinforcing our leadership position. Our gross margin stayed at a high level, reaching 29.6% at Panvel, a growth of 20.2% over next year's third quarter. This growth in sales was also followed by a high digital share, which reached 16.3%, having grown 0.2 percentage points over the second quarter and 1 point over the first quarter. Even the same scenario of accelerated growth.
Another indicator which is good is our NPS. In September, it reached the highest level of our history at 81 points, a growth of over 5 points when compared to early in the year. Panvel is the only company that can combine digital and physical growth and the best satisfaction for clients. Our EBITDA reached 4% in the quarter, in line with our expectations, where we had a natural pressure of physical expansion. We have opened already 59 stores in the past 12 months. We also had a negative impact in the performance of the wholesale, whose margins and sales were impacted by the closing of our DC in Passo Fundo and the transition for the new one in São José dos Pinhais.
That impact on wholesale was 0.2 percentage points, which means that in practice, in normal conditions, the company would have reached 4.2% of EBITDA, pretty much the same one at the same quarter 2020. Lastly, our adjusted net income reached BRL 20.3 million, a margin of 2.4%, also quite healthy and consistent with the company's history. Speaking of consistency, on slide number three, we would like to talk about our consistent growth. Gross revenue and the average revenue per store has been growing very robustly for 13% and 7%, respectively. Results which are above this period's inflation rate, always combined with increased market share. It is worth mentioning that this is a company that never had a loss in its history.
We are proud to say that consistency, solidity, and innovation are trademarks of Panvel. Speaking of sales, on the next slide, we reinforce our strong sales growth in the third quarter. As I mentioned, we grew 18% over 2020. That growth, once again, was above that of the market, both in terms of network and also in terms of associations and independence. That growth is not driven only by physical expansion, but also driven by our average growth per store, which sat at above levels than that of competitors, as can be seen on that same slide.
We continue to try to increase that average sales per store. BRL 525,000 a month was reached in the third quarter, and we reached that objective even amidst accelerated expansion. When we analyze same-store sales and mature sales through stores on the next slide, we see very positive results, 10.6% in same- store and 7.9% in mature store sales. Moving on and talking about an expansion plan, I would like to reinforce that our target remains at opening 65 stores in 2021. We opened 11 stores in the third quarter, a number which was impacted by the delay in bureaucratic procedures in some of our cities. But we have resumed normal levels in October.
We have already opened seven stores. It is worth mentioning that in the third quarter, we reached the historical mark of 500 stores, and we have a long way to go. As a consequence of the growth of average sales and of our physical expansion, on slide seven, we can see that the company's market share in original terms also grew, reaching 11.3%, an evolution of 0.4% when compared to last year. In addition, this great market share was materialized across all states where we operate. We continue to have an enviable market share in digital, with over 40% in the southern region, an undisputed position of leadership.
Speaking of digital on slide eight, the numbers make it clear that Panvel remains a benchmark in the pharma market. Sales reached 16.3%, an evolution when compared to both Q1 and Q2, even with an increase in client flow in physical stores. All that growth in sales is directly related to the quality of our deliveries. We continue to have the fastest delivery in the pharma retail, the ability to deliver up to an hour in all cities where we operate, and we do that with a 97% service level, very robust.
To make that possible, we put together a structure of 140 delivery stores and nine small DCs, or our dark stores. Not to include all the click and collect possibilities, which is present in all our stores. Also important to emphasize, all the digital growth in our case is not offending margins. Using the structure of existing stores for delivery and the lower CAC of those stores, we can accelerate digital sales in a profitable way. Lastly, our virtual circle closes when we measure our client satisfaction level. On slide number nine, we have a summary of the main service KPIs that we have.
We have a dashboard that is monitored on a weekly basis, and we are very proud of our teams because of the levels we've reached. Our NPS, as I mentioned before, reached the level of 81, a record level, a growth of over 5 points when compared to the beginning of the year. That growth was boosted, it was driven by all, happened across all our channels, stores, sites, everything. We have the best assessment of pharma retail including competitors. We have the best- assessed app of all competitors as well. Moving on to slide number 10, Panvel Clinic. As you know, the translation of our health ecosystem is Panvel Clinic. We are very well positioned to capture that great change in behavior from clients that now looks at drugstores as a health hub, not only as a sales point. We expanded our vaccination rooms.
Today, we have almost 300 stores well-equipped for the Panvel Clinic. In the third quarter, we increased our position on leadership in terms of vaccination, reaching a market share of 55%. We have applied more than 150,000 vaccines, especially H1N1, with a growth of over 300% when compared to last year. We also applied over 179,000 quick tests in the third quarter, maintaining our original leadership when it comes to testing, with a robust market share of 31%. As a consequence, in Q3, we reached a level of 2.8% of share in terms of services in our revenue. Another benchmark in pharma retail, which translates our mission of providing health and wellbeing to our clients. On slide number 11, in closing comments on sales, we reach Panvel products, another fundamental pillar of our strategy for margins and brand.
Panvel is the only network where clients can readily take the brand into their homes. In Q3, the share of Panvel products reached 7.5% of retail sales and 19.1% of participation over hygiene and beauty products. Once again, becoming a benchmark for the Brazilian pharma retail. The history line on the right-hand side is proof of that. The chart shows the success of our strategy, which combined consistent growth in sales with growth in margins throughout the past decade. In year-to-date numbers, the growth reached close to 33%, ensuring that the participation of Panvel products will continue to increase. Above 30% of those items are made by our industry, and that verticalized approach ensures superior margins for our operations. On slide 12, I'd like to share some images of our products and some new launches are in the horizon.
Now, talking about gross margin on slide 13, we can see its evolution. Gross margin in retail was once again one of the highlights of the quarter, having grown 0.2 percentage points over the third quarter of 2020. That good result was driven by the purchase of medications, the pre-hiking prices, and also participation of Panvel products. Looking ahead and removing seasonal effects, there are good outlook for gross margin as we evolve across margin projects focused on increasing margins and in selling generic products, and also other lines linked to convenience and hygiene and beauty products.
When we analyze our expenses on slide 14, we have kept our expenses at similar levels as those of past quarters, something expected as we expand our stores. We cannot forget the inflationary impacts on expenses such as personnel and leases. We also obtained gains of 0.1% in our administrative expenses due to our good operating leverage, even maintaining the reinforcement of strategic themes such as technology, data, and so on. We continue to present the best percentage of admin expenses in the industry. It would be easy to achieve more results in the short term if we were to uphold or to hold off on investments, but we have a clear vision of where we want to get to, and we are in line with the strategy and our plans.
In part, we enforce it. Expense control and high productivity are part of the company's DNA. When we analyze our KPIs, such as employees per store, we improve quarter- on- quarter, as can be seen on slide 14. Working with productivity is one of the best ways to reduce the impact of inflation on costs. After talking about sales, margins, and expenses, we get to the result. Our adjusted EBITDA closed the quarter at BRL 34.8 million, the equivalent of 4% of our gross revenue, and a growth of approximately 8% over last year. As I mentioned, that result is in line with plan, considering the investments made and the store expansion.
An outlier was an additional pressure of 0.2 percentage points coming from wholesale, which saw a more challenging quarter in terms of sales and margins due to the closing down of our DC in Passo Fundo and the ramp-up of the new CD in São José dos Pinhais. We expect those margins to resume normal levels in this next quarter. Our EBITDA, without that effect, would have stayed at around 4.2%, pretty much in line with what we had in the third quarter of 2020.
Looking to EBITDA of retail, the next slide, our consistency becomes even clearer. Even with the pressure in the second quarter for the reasons already mentioned, our margin is in line with our historical average. Accelerating store expansion in the fourth quarter and still maintain that consistency clearly indicates the success of our store operations and our good ramp-up of new stores. In line with everything that was said, we reached to adjusted net income on slide 17. Net income in adjusted terms reached BRL 20.3 million, equivalent to 2.4% of revenues. With that, we continue to position ourselves as one of the most profitable operations in the pharma industry. I'd like to take the opportunity to thank our whole team who worked hard to deliver those numbers, always focused on the client.
Moving on, and on slide 18, we can see our cash cycle. We continue in our process of normalizing our stocks and inventories. We reduced our inventory average time in 25 days since the first quarter, and our cash cycle has improved by seven days since then. We understand that there is room to improve, both in our inventory terms and our supplier deadlines, and that trend will continue to be pursued in the next quarters. Also important to mention is our capital structure, which is quite solid. We have generated BRL 47 million net cash flow in the third quarter. We are in a positive position of BRL 41 million now. We understand that this structure brings about a lot of comfort to continue to investing in the coming quarters. It makes a difference in a scenario where we have higher interest rates, as we are seeing now.
As we close our financial and operating indicators, we now share with you some of our strategic pillars. As we shared with the market earlier, including in our Panvel Day, which happened on October 26th, all actions are supported by strategic pillars, digital health ecosystem and others, all supported by people, culture, innovation, and technology. Speaking of those pillars, I would like to start by expansion of our physical stores and move on to slide 20. It is nothing new that physical stores are, and will continue to be for a long time, the operational hub of the business, and that is the main pillar of all. Be it because of convenience, because of the support for the last mile delivery, or be it because of experimenting, or for the lowest cost of client acquisition.
Being successful in a geographic expansion is key for all the other pillars to be successful. As we mentioned in our Panvel Day, we have a very well-defined expansion plan for the coming five years focused on the southern region of Brazil. in 2021, we are comfortable to say that those 65 stores will be open. 30% of sections concluded for next year, we want to open another 65 stores. Analyzing the numbers on that slide, we can say safely that we are delivering great numbers across all our regions. And special when we analyze performances in Paraná and Santa Catarina states, regions where we still have a lot of maturing stores. We are closing that gap year-on-year with the performance coming from the stores in Rio Grande do Sul, where we have our more mature base.
And more importantly, when we analyze our market share in those states, in numbers close to 5%, the opportunity is clear. There is room for us to grow more with a very low risk of cannibalization. Panvel is the only network or chain in the southern region who has already crossed frontiers and is well-positioned to operate in other states. Through very careful work done throughout many years, we have made the brand well-known and respected, not only where we are originated, but in other states as well. And that strategy is also addressing the expanded middle class. Popular stores represent more than 20% of our expansion plans this year, and if we consider that our standard format is hybrid, servicing different types of public, it becomes even clearer that Panvel is doing their homework to increase their share across different social classes.
If you want to analyze our recent store, fam, crop. We can look at the next slide, where the numbers speak for themselves. We talk about stores opening in the three states of the southern region between 2018 and 2020. Those are the results coming from those stores when we analyze data accumulated in this year. The orange bars represent the historical average for each period. In terms of the return of investment, ROIC, you can see that stores are still maturing, are performing way above the expected average for the same period. So 2020 and 2019 doing especially well. When we analyze the result generated by those stores as measured by EBITDA, the difference is even larger.
For 2018 and 2020, those numbers have already exceeded, in the short period of time, the Panvel's average EBITDA of 10.5%. And that means that as they reach maturity, those stores will lead our averages even higher. After talking about the stores, we can look at slide 22 and talk about our clients. Through our relationship program called Panvel, we have invested heavily in data science and analytics, always respecting the best practices of data assessment. Results are becoming clearer. With over 11 million customers within a database which is unified, one of the main distinguishing factors of Panvel, the number of clients has grown over 20% in a year.
With that unified base, we have our ways to follow up on our client journey, especially consumers of continued use and chronic disease products. Along this last journey, we are now launching projects to make those clients more loyal, as you can see on slide 23. Using very simple concepts that require deep data analysis, we are working around treatment management through notifications, reminders of treatment, medications, and the conversion rate for that is over 25%.
Another important pillar is that of the economy, providing accessibility of price and affordability to allow for adherence to the treatment. We have a partnership with laboratories, over 120 SKUs, where we provide special conditions for our clients to buy. The conversion rate, which is also very high. in only 60 days, almost 80% of our sales of those items have already been part of our program, BPM. Over 100,000 clients enrolled, and they are growing in an exponential manner. Lastly, the support care pillar, where we can share relevant contents and make available other health services such as vaccinations, exams, and others. Speaking of services, on slides 24 and 25, we try to summarize our health ecosystem. Early in the call, we shared several numbers of our Panvel Clinic and the services we provide.
Now, as a drugstore has become a health hub, and that offering quality services has to do with our mission of offering health and wellbeing, we are focused on bringing other options of services to our clients, a menu that goes way beyond COVID tests and vaccines. If we combine all the services we provide, in the third quarter of 2021, we reached a market share of almost 1/3 of the region where we operate, a number that makes us all proud, and there is a lot to be done yet. For example, we already offer a wide range of TLRs, tests, and home care services. Panvel was a pioneer in Brazil in the sale and scheduling of tests and vaccinations. We are now launching a new innovation, which is the sale of all our services range by WhatsApp using a chatbot to help support in the service.
We have no doubt that the addressable market for drugstores has increased, especially that of prevention, and we are well positioned to face that. All those services and several others that will come have a very important role as they bring more flow and recurrence to our physical and virtual stores. Clients recognize that Panvel equates health, and that is one of our strengths. I would like also to take the chance to emphasize the work we are doing with health operators through our special medications agreements. On slide 26, we have more details on that. That is B2B2C relationship, which is another strength of Panvel. Almost 1/3 of the sales already are part of that strategy. We are investing heavily in our relationship with health insurance company and operators through different possibilities and always looking for other partners. The investments in that relationship has already brought concrete results.
The sales of special medications has grown 30% in Q3, and Panvel already has a fourth of that market in the South Region. Many new things are coming up in the fourth quarter. I can mention an agreement with the Fundação Copel in Paraná, which started now in November, which will bring another 40,000 lives to our base, further increasing our responsibility of providing health and wellbeing to all those new clients. Many other agreements in the pipeline, which will increase our sales in the coming quarters. Moving away from our health ecosystem, I'd like to reinforce another important ecosystem, that of innovation. Innovation is also in the company's DNA. It has been so for many years, and I have plenty of examples.
National Retail is one of the best apps in the country. We're a platform which is omnichannel in a native term, which allows us to accelerate our digital acceleration. In slide 27, I'll share our mandala of our innovation ecosystem. We had opportunity on Panvel Day of detailing each one of those elements. That's why I'll reinforce those which are putting us closer to startups. Our Panvel Labs is already moving to its third year, having already mapped over 240 startups connected to 18 and 10 in phase of connection. Several of the solutions we saw during this presentation have gone through this. Now we are officially starting our program to accelerate startups, which is already in the phase of selecting companies. At the end of the process, we'll have between six and eight startups whose applications will be used by our business with the possibility of investing from Panvel.
We believe that there are good opportunities to accelerate our growth with the support of several startups in the health market. With all that toolbox in hand, Panvel continues to evolve in the digital front. In slide 28, I'd like to reinforce that we continue to follow on our roadmap and with a lot still to come. Our challenge is to remain ahead of the pharma market, always with the best solutions and the best quality of delivery. For example, we have evolved this year as we revamped our website with new technology so that it can grow and evolve more quickly. We are now investing heavily in UX improvements both in the app and in the website, in our search engine as well.
We have already launched a renewed site and a renewed app, always focused on making customers' lives easier when they need, which is when they want to find or buy a product. We continue also in our marketplace project, whose launch will happen in 2022. On slide 29, I have some details of the project. That marketplace is focused on well-being, health, and nutrition. We have in its first wave, a larger focus on depth and a potential to add from 50- 80 sellers, an increase 15,000 SKUs to our portfolio in this project. We are quite focused on client, on quality, and the last mile service. It's no use having a good e-commerce up and running if you cannot ensure high-quality service and fast deliveries. We continue to develop that project with a special attention to all details.
Now, moving towards the end of our presentation, I will be talking about ESG. Our Todos Bens platform is at full steam. On slide 30, you will find two QR codes that will take you straight to the platform's website and to our manifest. We are engaged in the main four pillars, which are our people, our clients, our partners, and our home. The platform unites all initiatives already put in place by the group and brings more targets for the coming five years. I would like to invite you all to visit the platform by using those QR codes to get to know about our commitments in ESG. Along those lines, I would like to highlight on slide 31 two important deliveries. In terms of renewable energy, we have just inaugurated our new plant in the City of Eldorado do Sul.
It is the largest in the state and the fourth largest in Brazil, supplying 50% of all the energy needs of our offices and our DCs. That means reducing emissions of 145 tons of CO2 in the atmosphere and planting thousands of trees. We want to have 100% of our stores being supplied by renewable energy until the end of next year. That number has now reached 40%. Another important delivery, in terms of G, was the closing of our migration to the Novo Mercado, another landmark as we advance in our governance procedures. To close the presentation on slide 32, I would like to share with you a bit of our expansion plan for 2022. We are very bullish for the fourth quarter of this year, and it is time to look ahead.
First, we expect to have another robust year in terms of growth, supported by the many projects I have already mentioned, as the chronic disease journey, focus on generics, and special medications. We will focus on the selling of medications next year. Also, in 2022, stores located inside shopping malls will resume pre-pandemic sales levels. We will see also categories which are now not doing so well resuming previous levels. In terms of gross margins, we intend to maintain healthy levels next year at levels very close to what we had in previous years. The increase in the participation of generics and Panvel products, in addition to a relevant share of services, will allow us to balance the increase of medications, special medications, and also investment in other strategies. Just as we expect to maintain well-balanced margin percentages.
Speaking of expenses, after important investments in logistics, solar plants, and internal teams, we expect in 2022 to have some gain in the productivity in our everyday operations and also some scale gains as we leverage our operations. All that scenario reinforces the view that Panvel is in fact a unique and safe asset in the pharma industry, representing a great opportunity for new investors and shareholders. We close this cycle very satisfied with the results, and we remain optimistic for the remaining of the year and for next year. As we have shared on Panvel Day, we are following up on our planning for 2025. The idea is to double the company's sales until then and improve our margins.
In addition, I would like to reinforce that this is our last call where we will still be using the corporate name Grupo Dimed. We will be starting to be called Grupo Panvel in January next year. The brand Panvel encompasses all the attributes which are fueling our success, both in the past, now in the present, and as we move forward to the future. Once again, thank you all for participating, and now we are available for questions that you may have. Thank you.
Thank you. We will now start the Q&A session. To ask a question by audio, please star nine. You can also ask questions using the webcast by posting the question on the chat box on your screen and then clicking on send. Please stand by while we pull for questions. Our first question comes from [Mr. Mateus Kidiz]. Can you comment on the expansion of 65 new stores during the year of 2021? Are the remaining projects already undergoing, or should we expect to have some of those units delayed for 2022?
Thank you. We are quite confident that we will deliver the 65 stores still in 2021. All the projects are ongoing, the construction works as well. The number of openings in October shows that we are on the right track to open the planned number of stores. We are also happy with the results shown by those stores, especially the popular and hybrid ones, which have shown ability to bring to the company more clients, more customers coming from different social classes. As I mentioned during the presentation, when we look at 2022, we already have an expansion level which is quite robust. We are going to be opening another 65 stores next year, 70% have been prospected.
We also start in Q1 next year with a good number of store openings, something that didn't happen in 2021, for example. This will give us a good rhythm for the rest of the year of, once again, investing in winning projects of stores focused on popular and standard formats. The number of openings in the second half, they happened because in the first half, we had the second wave of the pandemic, so there were many restrictions in terms of opening new stores. That's why the higher number of openings in the second half. Ideally, we would balance openings across different quarters. In this case, in this year, there was a concentration in the second half of the year. Next year, expect to have a more balanced pathway. Without a doubt, we reached a number of 65, and for next year, 65 once again, as it was shown.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Ms. Maria Clara Infantozzi from Itaú. Mrs. Maria Clara, you may carry on. I think we can move to the next one, perhaps. Our next question from Mr. Carlos.
Would it be possible for you to update us on the implementation process of the center of sales PNI DC? What were the impacts on the third quarter from that migration? When do you expect to see the effects finishing?
Thank you. Yes, we still see some impact in the third quarter coming from that transition. Moving an important DC from one state to another is not an easy task. Things happened as we expected, but without a doubt, there are opportunities to increase the level of productivity at that DC, and with that, obtain further gains. What we can share right now is that this transition has been completed. In the fourth quarter, we will observe important scale gains when compared to the fourth quarter of last year. We are very happy with the results. Of course, it brought about some extra costs, but they are already reflected in our sales expenses, and from now on, it will be a DC that will bring positive results to our operation.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Maria Clara from Itaú. Maria Clara, you may carry on.
Hello, everyone. Thank you. My question is about the profitability expectations in the short run. We saw that there was some pressure on Q3 results, and it was driven by the physical expansion. Given that you are still accelerating the expansion, can we expect those pressures on EBITDA to continue in the short run, or could we understand that pressure will be offset by an increase in sales and is the result of a process of maturation of stores?
Thank you for your question. In our long-term view, as you mentioned, it is only natural that we will have pressures on our EBITDA when we talk about physical store expansion. When we look at the fourth quarter and also at 2022, some pressure will be there, but it will start being offset by other actions. This will be clear in the fourth quarter, where we will be having better margins. Throughout 2022, our expectations are that the pressure on expansion will be there, but actions such as our new DC in São José dos Pinhais, those productivity gains that I mentioned, and scale gains with an average sale per store, all of that combined will help us offset those pressures.
But one thing has to be clear, there are no miracles or no leaps within our planning for our next five years. Those margin gains in EBITDA will come gradually, brick by brick, until we reach 2025 with a margin closer to 7%, which is what we expect. Looking ahead at next year, we expect some margin gain, yes, but it will still be only the first step until we get to 2025.
Our next question comes from Karen Sayuri from Genial Investimentos. You may carry on, Ms. Sayuri.
My question, thank you for taking my question, is about medication policies that were in the release. There was an increase in the share of medications. I would like to understand how can we look at the mix in the short run with these new stores being opened and everything.
When we look at expectations for mix, we are quite close that medication share will continue to evolve. We are very well positioned to continue to evolve in generics, and also especially because special medications is going strong. When we look at over the counter, there are very important elements. Several categories that were pressure, especially in 2020 as fever, pain, flu, colds, they resumed robust growth in Q3 as we resume some kind of normalcy in society. We understand that Panvel will continue to have a very important work in OTC as well, and vitamins prevention and so on.
Panvel has always had a strength around hygiene and cosmetics, and we continue to be there. That is an important thing for us. But when we look ahead, the projects that we have on the table, they will take us to a growth in the share of medications within our mix. What we can expect to see is that the development of special meds and also the new business area or new policy around generics, which will be live in December, that will add competitiveness to the business. The continued use also bringing in an important share focused on a better experience for customers. All of those investments in data science and new businesses, they will bring significant growth in the medications front for the coming years. We also see that already happening because some categories which were under pressure are now growing, such as makeup products.
We see that convenience consumption is now resuming. That is something we did not have in 2020 and nor in 2021. Consumers went to drugstores to buy specific things, and impulse purchases were left aside. Now there is an opportunity for us to explore as we resume normal activity. Without a doubt, we can expect that in addition to medications, you can expect good results in hygiene and cosmetics as well.
Thank you. To ask a question by audio, press star nine. Questions by webcast can be done through the platform on the left-hand side of your screen. Our next question comes from Mateus, and the question is: what is the acceptance level to services at drugstores after the drop of COVID-19 testing? What can we see going forward with the new services to be added to Panvel units in the next years now that COVID testing are no longer mandatory?
Mateus, thank you for your question. That is something we have been observing quite closely, and right now where clearly COVID testing is going down, we are quite optimistic as in terms of the relevance of the services that we provide. The Panvel brand is always linked to health and wellbeing because of the way we service our clients, and that has made our lives easier when COVID struck because the population accepted or they would find it okay to go into a drugstore and purchase those services. Now, going forward, what can we see?
On the vaccination front, which is already quite important, but there is a lot of room to grow as well, and we will continue to invest on that. As I mentioned, Panvel is a leader and our objective is to expand that leadership. A lot more to come on the vaccination front. In addition to COVID testing, we are already offering other options, most of which do not have the same impact as COVID testing. But we do believe that throughout time, as consumers have been learning to go to a drugstore to buy services, that will eventually happen. If we go back to pre-pandemic times, most chains were not looking at that, even though we were.
Today, it is proving to be a very good growth of revenue, and that growth will happen not only inside stores but through partnerships. Panvel has been fostering partnerships with clinics, labs, and others. That has to do with this effort, all this investment we are making in the area of special meds. Also our contacts with health insurance operators. We are now making available more services to meet the expectations of each one of those consumers. Our expectations are quite positive.
We are very optimistic, and we continue to invest in opening new stores with the Panvel Clinic. All the stores that we open, we have a clinic alongside, and that reflects the belief that we have that drugstore services are here to stay and has to do with providing health and good wellbeing to the population, which is our mission.
Thank you. We now close the Q&A session. Questions which were not answered during the Q&A will be forwarded to the company's IRO area and will be addressed later. I'd like to turn the floor back over to Mr. Antonio Napp for his final remarks. Please, Mr. Napp, you may carry on.
Thank you, everyone. I'd like to reinforce my gratitude, my pleasure of having had you all here this morning. We continue and to move on very optimistically, and we are already looking at 2022 and putting our best foot forward. We are very solid, very robust, very consistent in our results. We delivered numbers quarter- on- quarter, and that keeps us reassured that we will continue to deliver good performance. As I said, that trust, that consistency, that solidity are trademarks of Panvel.
Dimed's conference call. Thank you all. Have a nice day. Dimed's conference call is now over. Thank you all for participating, and have a nice day, everyone. Thank you.