Ambee Pharma’s July-March profit falls 75%

Ambee Pharmaceuticals Ltd, which manufactures a wide range of pharmaceutical products in Bangladesh, has registered a 75% lower profit in the July-March period of the last fiscal year.

Its earnings per share (EPS) stood at Tk0.65 in the first nine month of fiscal 2020-2021, which was Tk2.38 at the corresponding period of the previous year.

As profits declined, the share price fell 8.79% in the last two trading sessions to Tk439.50 each, from Tk481.9 on 18 August when the company published its financials.

On the other hand, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Thursday sent a letter to all banks to freeze bank accounts belonging to Ambee Pharmaceuticals for Tk2.9 crore VAT evasion.

According to sources in NBR, Ambee Pharma evaded VAT by concealing sales details.

Despite repeated notices to pay the evaded VAT, the revenue authority did not get any responses from the company, NBR mentions in the letter.

When contacted by The Business Standard, Company Secretary Mohammad Amir Hossain declined to make a comment on mobile phones on the drugmaker's financials and account freeze.

According to its financials, the EPS has been maintaining a declining trend from the July-September period.

In the first quarter, its EPS declined 80% to Tk0.15, from Tk0.75 at the same period of the previous year.

Following that, in the October-December period, EPS fell 77% to Tk0.20, and in the third quarter, it dropped 60% to Tk0.30, from Tk0.75 in the same period of the previous year.

Ambee Pharmaceuticals was established in 1976 and got listed on the stock market in 1986.

It started operation with modest 17 joint ventured products and is now running in full swing with 76 products.

In fiscal 2019-2020, its net sales declined by 11% to Tk28.53 crore and the company posted a profit of Tk36.4 lakh.

It has paid a 15% cash dividend to its shareholders for that year.