Covid-19 drugs bring windfall for Beximco

Several business initiatives involving medicine, vaccines, and coronavirus personal protective equipment (PPE), have helped Beximco Limited post impressive revenue growth.

In the first three-quarters of the current fiscal year, the company reported a 72% year-on-year growth in revenue to Tk2,836.42 crore and a 550% jump in net profit to Tk376.79 crore.

Its share price soared 290% to Tk87 at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) in the same period.

Beximco Pharma's revenue grew by 14% to Tk2,176.24 crore and net profit by 41% to Tk369.52 crore during the period.

"Sales, profit, and earnings per share (EPS) would have been higher if the company was able to execute all its export orders which it could not, due to capacity constraints, especially in PPE production," Salman F Rahman, vice chairman of the Beximco Group, had earlier told The Business Standard on the company's half-yearly financial performance.

"Profit margins are substantially more in PPE than the traditional garments Bangladesh exports, and so Beximco aims to become a key player in the global PPE market which should result in a significant increase in sales and profit in the immediate future."

Salman F Rahman could not be reached for comment following the announcement of the third-quarter financial statement of the company.

Following the coronavirus outbreak in the country, the Beximco Group has established a personal protective equipment (PPE) Industrial Park,  investing $100 million on 25 acres of land.

Beximco Pharmaceuticals has also signed an agreement with the government and the Serum Institute of India to deliver three crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine to the government in monthly instalments.

Beximco Pharma is also listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Responding to a London Stock Exchange query, the company said that following the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in India, the Indian government has put temporary control restrictions on vaccine exports.

As a result, Beximco Pharma anticipates some delays in vaccine supplies as Serum Institute will be unable to make its planned monthly deliveries, it added.

Beximco Pharma anticipates that Serum Institute will not be able to supply all of the remaining 23 million doses before the scheduled date at the end of June 2021.

The company will collaborate with Serum Institute to provide a revised supply schedule once the temporary export controls are relaxed.

IBeximco Pharma also confirmed that the previously announced plan of distributing one million doses to paying customers in Bangladesh, is on hold. The company will review whether to resume the plan once vaccine supplies stabilise, the company said in its reply to the London Stock Exchange.

Beximco Pharma also launched Bemsivir, the world's first generic version of Remdesivir, for the treatment of Covid-19.

Its share price also rose 256% to Tk192 in the last year at the DSE.