Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (May 28): Pharmaniaga Bhd has said it remains cautiously optimistic about recording a better performance in the next quarter's results ending June 2021, by focusing on operational efficiencies and fiscal discipline throughout its value chain, including the supply and distribution of Covid-19 vaccine in the country.

The pharmaceutical giant also reiterated a point made by Coordinating Minister of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) Khairy Jamaluddin yesterday, that the company is poised to fulfil its contractual obligation towards the government by distributing a total of 12 million doses of Sinovac vaccine in June and July.

These consist of 5.09 million fill and finish as well as 6.9 million doses of finished vaccine, to help speed up the federal government's NIP goal of achieving 80% herd immunity by year end.

Pharmaniaga group managing director (MD) Datuk Zulkarnain Md Eusope said the group has proposed to the government to supply both finished as well as filled and finished vaccine doses to help it expedite the completion of the NIP, and at the same time review its contract obligation, thus shortening the supply period.

"Upon completion of our obligation to the government, we can start offering [the] Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine to the private sector.

"We expect [that] we are going to supply to the state government and private sectors by the third week or the fourth week of June depending on the current government obligations and requests.

"The [purchase] price, we have yet to decide. There are a lot of things that we need to consider," said Zulkarnain at a virtual media briefing today.

He also said Pharmaniaga intends to import 10 million doses of Sinovac Covid-19 finished vaccine from China.

"The World Health Organization is expected to approve [the] Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine very soon and we foresee that once this happens, the global demand for the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine will spike and we may not be able to obtain it easily like now. Thus, we plan to place the order now before that occurs," he said.

For the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21), Pharmaniaga posted an increase of 3.3% in net profit to RM23.14 million from RM22.4 million a year ago on the back of lower finance costs. Earnings per share increased to 8.84 sen from 8.57 sen.

Despite the rise in net profit, the company's revenue, meanwhile, fell 3.22% to RM793.5 million, from RM819.92 million in the previous year due to lower demand from the Indonesian business amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The pharmaceutical company also declared an interim dividend of four sen per share, to be paid on July 6.

Commenting on the company's prospects for FY21, the MD said Pharmaniaga is looking for a stable income and expecting that it is going to be a profitable year.

Concurrently, Zulkarnain also stated that China Food and Drug Administration has approved the manufacturing of two-dose per vial Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine and it is now waiting for documents from the manufacturer before submitting them to the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency.

Once approved, Pharmaniaga's wholly-owned subsidiary Pharmaniaga LifeScience Sdn Bhd will be able to ramp up production from two million to four million a month.

As part of Pharmaniaga's long-term sustainable growth plans driven by iconic initiatives in place, Zulkarnain said the group aims to accelerate the growth of its vaccine manufacturing business by embarking on a halal vaccine project, which is targeted for completion by 2024.

At noon break, Pharmaniaga rose 3.76% or 18 sen to settle at RM4.97, valuing the company at RM1.3 billion.

Edited ByLam Jian Wyn
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