Square Pharmaceuticals’ annual profit grows by 19.38%
60% cash dividend recommended for 2020-21
Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd posted Tk1,594 crore in annual profit for the 2020-21 fiscal year, which is 19.38% higher compared to the previous year.
The profit growth boosted the top pharmaceutical company's earnings per share to Tk17.99 for the year, up from the previous year's Tk15.07.
The profit figures include that of its subsidiary companies. But the individual companies also posted growth in profits on a standalone basis.
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Square Company Secretary Khandaker Habibuzzaman declined to comment beyond the disclosures after the board meeting.
However, one of his colleagues told The Business Standard that the company secured double digit revenue growth in the 2020-21 fiscal year, both on a standalone and consolidated basis.
At the end of June this year, Square Pharma and its subsidiaries' combined net asset value per share stood at Tk102.54.
Square Pharmaceuticals board of directors recommended a 60% cash dividend for its shareholders, which would cost the company less than half of its annual profit.
Its board of directors also approved a Tk300 crore investment plan for BMRE (balancing, modernising, rehabilitation and expansion), buying new capital machinery and land for future expansion.
In its upcoming annual general meeting scheduled to be held on 15 December virtually, shareholders would consider the dividend plan and other agenda. Record date to identify shareholders is fixed on 22 November.
Square Pharmaceuticals had been waiting to begin manufacturing in its newly built Kenyan plant in August this year.
The company official who talked to The Business Standard seeking anonymity said, Due to the pandemic situation the commencement of operation abroad was delayed and he is expecting to begin production in the African plant at the end of this year.
The offshore plant is set to help the company diversify its supply chain and mitigate any impact of Bangladesh's LDC graduation a decade later.
Launched in 1958, Square Pharmaceuticals emerged as the industry leader in the mid-1980s and still holds the crown with around 17% market share.
The company got listed on the local bourse in 1995. Square Pharma shares closed 1.1% higher at Tk233.8 in the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Thursday.
The pharma market of the country is growing by 15% every year, according to the Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries. The market is expected to grow four times to Tk1 lakh crore by 2030.
