Pharmaniaga to halt profit decline

Business Times:PHARMACEUTICAL firm Pharmaniaga Bhd plans to arrest the decline in profits this year, by introducing products with better margins.
The state-owned firm's net profit almost halved to RM26.9 million in 2005 due to small profit margins and as it finishes some contracts to supply products to West Asia.
Before that, its net profit has been consistently growing every year, since the year 2000.
"We will work hard to arrest this decline by boosting productivity and promoting products of higher margins such as injectable antibiotics in the second quarter of this year.
"There will be more new products down the pipeline and we will improve our logistics business ... all the extra revenue will bring in the profit," managing director Azhar Hussain told Business Times recently.
Pharmaniaga, 72 per cent owned by UEM World Bhd, which currently has a local market share of 30 per cent also aims to become a regional and global champion such as Petroliam Nasional Bhd.
"We plan to expand to India and have our sights on the Association of South- East Asian Nations (Asean) region either by setting up a new plant, forge joint ventures or establish new marketing offices," said Azhar.
Pharmaniaga currently has marketing offices in Indonesia, Vietnam and a manufacturing facility in Wuxi, China, which it launched this month to make intravenous drips.
The company at present has three manufacturing plants which are in Sri Iskandar (Perak), Bangi and Puchong in Selangor.
In total, the plants churn over 400 generic products and employ almost 2,000 workers. Ideally, Pharmaniaga wants to have 5 or 6 plants.
The contract manufacturer currently make drugs for three foreign multinationals which are Pfizer, Wyeth and Bristol Myers Squibb.
It also supplies its products to the Government and private hospitals at a ratio of 50:50. Its contract value with the Government is about RM500 million a year, involving 134 hospitals and it exports about 1 per cent of its products.
"We aim to become the preferred brand and a global company in 10 years and will also look at biotechnology opportunities," said Azhar.