Friday 29 Mar 2024
By
main news image

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 24): Pharmaniaga Bhd saw its third-quarter net profit fall 82.7% to RM8.62 million from RM49.84 million a year earlier, on lower sales as the country enters into the endemic phase.

This resulted in a lower earnings per share of 0.66 sen for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (3QFY2022) compared with 3.81 sen for 3QFY2021.

Revenue for the current quarter under review dropped 56.6% to RM924.68 million from RM2.13 billion in 3QFY2021, on lower sales from its concession segment due to the timing of orders from the Ministry of Health (MOH). This was partially offset by higher revenue from other segments including non-concession and Indonesia businesses.

Despite the weaker quarterly performance, Pharmaniaga declared a third interim dividend of 0.6 sen for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2022 (FY2022), payable on Feb 22, 2023.

The lower quarterly earnings dragged down the group's net profit by 57.2% to RM37.07 million for the cumulative nine months ended Sept 30, 2022 (9MFY2022) from RM86.68 million a year earlier, while revenue fell 35.5% to RM2.65 billion in 9MFY2022 from RM4.1 billion in 9MFY2021.

In a Bursa Malaysia filing on Thursday (Nov 24), Pharmaniaga said it remains cautiously optimistic of its performance in 2022 considering the volatile economic and geopolitical climate across the globe.

"Nevertheless, we have well-crafted strategic plans across the group to cushion any risk or situation in ensuring minimum impact throughout our business operations," it added.

On the local front, the group is focusing to leverage its business portfolio in the private market that has registered revenue growth of 57% quarter-on-quarter and 55% year-on-year.

"We expect to record more than RM120 million of revenue, with an approximate 60% growth, from the private sector by year end. Alongside this, the group forecasts that its concession business will continue to register growth estimated at 8% for this year as additional products have been added by MOH into the approved products purchase list."

Pharmaniaga also said its Indonesia business continues to become the main growth driver as it performs impressively, mainly propelled by enhanced operational efficiency and digitalisation with an ongoing stock optimisation exercise, aggressive collection efforts as well as increasing product portfolio.

As at end-September, Indonesia business operations have achieved 8% growth in revenue and the group targets to close FY2022 with a 15% growth.

At noon market break, Pharmaniaga shares closed up 1.5 sen or 2.83% at 54 sen, bringing it a market capitalisation of RM713.93 million.

      Print
      Text Size
      Share