Square Pharma grows on rising drug sales  

Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd – the flagship company of Square Group –continued its growth in sales and profit during the Covid-19 pandemic on the back of growing demand for drug.

In the first-half of 2020-2021, the pharma giant reported that its revenue grew by 11.89% and profit by 12.74%.

In the October-December quarter, the year-on-year revenue and profit jumped by 10.94% and 8.65% respectively.

Md Kabir Reza, chief financial officer of Square Pharmaceuticals, told The Business Standard, "Despite a strong competition in the pharmaceuticals sector, our growth trend continued even during the Covid-19 pandemic."

"We hope that the trend will continue in the future as well."  

The largest drug maker of the country pioneered exports of medicines from Bangladesh in 1987. Currently, it exports antibiotics and other pharmaceutical products to 42 countries.

In the first six months of the current fiscal year, the company reported a Tk2,907.93 crore revenue, up from Tk2,614.89 crore in the same period of the previous year.

Its net profit also rose by 12.83% compared to the first half of 2019-2020 and stood at Tk776.95 crore. During the same period of the previous year, its profit was Tk688.58 crore.

As profit increased, its earnings per share (EPS) stood at Tk8.76, which was Tk7.77 in the previous year.

In the second quarter of the current fiscal year, Square Pharma's total revenue stood at Tk1435.47 crore and profit Tk383.76 crore, up from Tk1293.80 crore, and Tk353.19 crore respectively in the same time of the previous fiscal year.

Launched in 1958, Square Pharmaceuticals emerged as the industry leader in the mid-1980s, and got listed on the local stock exchange in the mid-1990s.

The pharma market size of the country was Tk25,200 crore at the end of April last year, and it has been growing by 15% every year, according to the Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries.

The country's leading drug manufacturer controls 17% of the market.