Combined quarter for the pharma sector
Pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh witnessed a slump on profits through the third quarter (January-March) of fiscal 2019-20 following lowered sales of prescription medicine amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Concurrently, however, seven drug producers saw a rise in their earnings per share while nine others booked lower income, according to data from the Dhaka STOCK MARKET (DSE).
Meanwhile, another three pharmaceutical companies continue steadily to incur losses and two others contain yet to create their financial records.
Nearly all hospitals and private chambers were closed for a significant about of time during the January-March period and so, the sale of prescription drugs dropped, said Md Rafiqul Islam, head of corporate affairs and company secretary of the ACME Laboratories.
ACME Laboratories is a leading pharmaceutical enterprise that recorded about Tk 912 crore found in revenue halfway through fiscal 2018-19, according to info from the DSE.
However, the company's earnings per share fell 3.44 per cent year-on-year to Tk 1.68 in the 3rd quarter of the prior fiscal yr. ACME Laboratories was listed on the DSE back 2016.
The federal government announced a two-week nationwide general holiday, beginning on March 26, in a bid to support the spread of coronavirus in Bangladesh.
However, after the problem deteriorated, the lockdown was expanded by two months.
"But our COVID-19 related medicines were sold-out because of panic buying so we'd to increase the production of these types of drugs gradually," Islam said.
Besides, the industry continues to have problems with a shortage of recycleables, forcing manufacturers to create whenever you can given the situation, he added.
"People were anxious about getting infected, so the majority of them avoided journeys to the physician's office unless they showed signs of respiratory issues or perhaps high-quality fever," said a top official of a secured asset management firm that heavily invests found in pharma stocks.
In light of this fact, the sale of drugs employed to take care of other diseases reduced amid the pandemic.
On the other hand, one great that arose from the situation was that several listed drugmakers noticed a growth in their profits through the January-March period and the same cannot be said for all the sectors, he added.
Because of their increased profitability, the seven pharmaceutical businesses mentioned above were a top attraction for investors in the DSE trading panel.
Square Pharmaceuticals led the list found in turnover the other day with the total value for shares traded being about Tk 80 crore. Square was accompanied by Beximco Pharmaceuticals and Beacon Pharmaceuticals, according to the weekly market examination of UCB Capital.
In March, there is some panic shopping for so although profits rose for the reason that month, it didn't continue into the up coming quarter, said Md Jubayer Alam, company secretary of Renata.
Renata, another listed company, recorded revenue of Tk 2,221 crore in fiscal 2018-19.
People bought medicine found in a frenzy in March due to fear of shortages when the pandemic intensified, Alam said.
In the fourth quarter (April-June), virtually all pharmaceuticals companies saw a 20 % reduction in sales as persons avoided seeing their doctors at the time unless absolutely necessary, he added.
