The figure was 4.6 per cent higher than the N456m profit
before tax the company reported in the corresponding period of 2014.
The company also reported a 4.7 per cent increase in
earnings per share with its EPS rising to 22 kobo in the reviewing period from
21 kobo.
Fidson Healthcare, which said it witnessed a 128 per cent
quarter-on-quarter revenue growth as sales returned to normal levels
post-elections, however, noted that its half-year 2015 revenue was down by 12
per cent to N4.034bn when compared to the N4.573bn it declared in the same
period of last year.
The company explained in a statement that despite the
year-on-year slowdown in sales, which was largely due to the prolonged general
elections and transition period, its margins improved over the first six
months.
The improvement, it said, was driven by the company’s
cost optimisation drive. For instance, the company reported that its operating
expenses dropped by 67 per cent from N150m in the first half of 2014 to N49m in
H1 2015, with selling and distribution expenses also decreasing from N605m to
N325m, a decline of 46 per cent.
The statement added that the company, which recently
emerged as the recipient of Frost & Sullivan 2014 Growth Excellence
Leadership Award in the Nigerian Pharmaceutical Industry, “continues to gear up
for the commissioning of her World Health Organisation Good Manufacturing
Practice compliant plant, where it would manufacture IV fluids in addition to
existing product offerings.”
The new plant, according to the company, is scheduled to
become operational before the end of 2015 and is expected to broaden its
product base and increase its capacity.
“Fidson’s growth opportunities have also recently been
enhanced by the announcement of her partnership with Immune Therapeutics Incorporated,
a United .States public company to market LodonalTM in Nigeria.
LodonalTM is a patent-protected product that is indicated for
the management of patients with immune-compromise,” the statement added.
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