Square Pharma sales up 12% amid pandemic

Drug manufacturing giant Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd has reported a 12 percent growth in its sales in the third quarter of the 2019-20 financial year.

Officials at the company said the novel coronavirus spread around the world during the January-March period, and the fear that everything might be closed because of it led people to buy medicines for use in emergencies.

According to the third quarter unaudited financial statement – which was disclosed on Monday evening – the company reported medicine sales of Tk1,408 crore – up from Tk1256.34 crore in the same period of the previous year. 

The company's net profit also increased by 16 percent compared to the third quarter of the previous year, and stood at Tk361.54 crore.

Its earnings per share were Tk4.28 in the third quarter of 2019-20 – which was Tk3.69 during the same period of the last financial year.

Meanwhile, in the three quarters of the current financial year, the total sales of the company stood at Tk4,022.91 crore, which is eight percent higher than that of the previous year. At that time, the net profit was Tk1,050.13 crore, and earnings per share Tk12.44.

But net profit of Square Hospitals has decreased. In three quarters, the hospital's net profit stood at Tk9.48 crore, which was Tk11.56 crore in the previous year.

In the last financial year, the company made a net profit of Tk1,264.57 crore, and paid 42 percent cash and seven percent stock dividend to its shareholders. 

The paid-up capital of Acme Laboratories is currently Tk844.23 crore.

Sponsors and directors together owned 34.57 percent of company shares till February this year. The institutional, foreign and general investors owned 10.30 percent, 19.48 percent and 35.65 percent shares respectively.

The closing price of the company's each share was Tk172.50 at the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Monday. The shares hit the highest price of Tk266.20 last year.