Navana Pharma to go public for Tk75cr

Navana Pharmaceuticals Ltd wants to raise Tk75 crore from the capital market through an initial public offering (IPO) under the book-building method to expand its business.

As per the book-building criteria, the company will arrange a roadshow on 21 December in Dhaka, where it will introduce itself to institutional investors.

Navana Pharma was incorporated in Bangladesh on 31 March 1986.

It operates its business under two divisions- veterinary, and human health.

The veterinary division of the company manufactures and markets more than 123 high-quality medicines and feed supplements for different segments including poultry, dairy, and aqua products.

On the other hand, the human health division produces more than 277 drugs- tablets, capsules, oral liquids, ampoules, dry powder vials, powder for suspension, eye drops, creams & ointments, etc.

Navana Pharma sells these products in the domestic and international markets. It exports to 15 countries and has around 3,000 employees.

According to its audited financial report of the 2020-21 fiscal year, the net profit of the company stood at Tk17.98 crore, which was Tk13.13 crore in the previous fiscal.

During the period, the revenue of the company was Tk360.66 crore, which was Tk314.90 crore in the previous year.

The company's earnings per share were Tk2.24, which was Tk1.64 in the previous year. Its net asset value per share stood at Tk40.9 in FY21.

The factory of the company is situated at Rupshi, Rupganj, Narayanganj.

Asian Tiger Capital Partners Investment Ltd, UCB Investment Ltd and EBL Investments Ltd are working as issue managers, while AFC Capital Limited is working as the registrar for Navana Pharma's IPO process.

The pharmaceutical industry has developed considerably in Bangladesh. In the post-independence period, Bangladesh was almost 100% dependent on foreign medicines. But now, Bangladeshi medicines are being exported to 180 countries of the world.

Local companies are now meeting 98% of the demands of the domestic market. They are developing and producing a variety of complex and international standard medicines including vaccines, medicines for heart and cancer diseases, and insulins.

According to IQVIA, an American multinational pharmaceutical company, Bangladesh's pharmaceutical market surpassed Tk27,000 crore in 2020 with an annual growth of more than 10%. Also, Bangladeshi companies export medicines worth around Tk1,500 crore per year. However, 71% of the country's total medicines are sold by the top 10 companies in the pharma industry.

According to the Export Promotion Bureau, revenue from drug exports in FY21 was Tk1,433 crore.

In that year, the income growth in this sector was 24.50%. In FY20, medicines worth Tk1,153 crore were exported from Bangladesh.