DUOPHARMA Biotech Bhd, via a bourse filing, reported that its net profit has risen by 16% year-on-year for its 2019 financial year.
The pharmaceuticals player reported a post tax profit of RM55.27 mil for the year, on the back of a full-year revenue of RM576.46 mil. For the quarter itself, a revenue of RM137.76 mil was reported, with a quarterly net profit of RM12.03 mil.
Duopharma’s FY19 also saw an increase in earnings per share, with the EPS coming in at 8.25 sen, higher than the 7.26 sen of FY18. The board of directors has recommended a final dividend of 5 sen per share.
Duopharma’s group managing director, Leonard Ariff Abdul Shatar, attributed the group’s strong performance to higher demand for the group’s pharmaceutical products from both the private and public health sectors.
“The group’s net profit also improved significantly due to higher sales and also lower provision of inventories in FY19,” he said, adding that he also believes that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the group is expected to achieve a satisfactory set of results in FY2020 as well.
“The recent Budget 2020 has seen an increase of 6.6% in allocation for the healthcare sector to RM30.6 bil,” said Leonard, noting that this is the highest ever allocation for the sector.
The extension of government contract periods for the supply of products to hospitals, clinics and others for 25 months also augurs well for the group, “as it stabilises a significant portion of the group’s revenue for the period.”
“In addition, based on the Ministry of Finance’s Economic Outlook 2020, global growth for our industry is forecast to improve to 3.5% in 2020 from 3.2% in 2019. Growth in 2020 is expected to be supported by stronger GDP performance in emerging markets and developing countries, and this includes Malaysia. Our GDP is anticipated to improve in 2020 relative to 2019,” explained Leonard.
He also believes that the Malaysian economic outlook is expected to remain resilient with domestic demand anchoring growth, despite the prolonged trade dispute between major economies, geopolitical tensions as well as volatility in the global financial and commodity markets.
However, the ongoing Covid-19 (novel coronavirus) outbreak may result in disruptions in global supply chains and may create uncertainties in the market, which may dampen the global economic outlook.
At the end of the trading day, Duopharma’s shares closed at RM1.64, up 2 sen, with 889,000 shares changing hands. – Feb 13, 2020
