By Promit Mukherjee
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South African pharmaceutical firm Adcock Ingram plans to launch a range of new products in the next six months to boost revenues and profits, its CEO said, after the company announced a 30% rise in profit for the six months ended Dec. 31.
Its headline earnings per share, the main measure of corporate profit in South Africa, was at 242.3 South African cents ($0.1612), against 186.5 cents seen in the same period a year ago, sending shares up 0.8% against a broader market which was down around 0.6% in early trade.
“We are planning to launch around 10-12 products over the next six months which could add around 200 million to the revenues,” Andy Hall, CEO of Adcock, told Reuters, adding that these would have a profit margin of around 20%.
With the relaxation in COVID regulations in the country, Adcock, which sells a mix of over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription drugs and consumer goods, saw a surge in demand for its OTC and consumer products as customers restored their purchases of drugs and essentials.
This boosted the turnover of the company’s consumer and OTC division by 33% and 26% respectively and overall turnover by 16% to 4.35 billion rand, it said in a statement.
The turnover was further helped by a 225 million rand contribution from six product launches in the first half under its prescription division, Hall said.
He said the planned launches will be under its prescription division, which markets products prescribed by medical practitioners and includes specialised instrument and surgical products. It is the company’s biggest division contributing over a third of revenues and a fifth of its profit.
It declared an interim dividend of 104 cents a share.
($1=15.0334 rand)
(Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Louise Heavens)
