Pharmaniaga’s 3Q17 pre-tax profit drops to RM15 million

KUALA LUMPUR: Pharmaniaga Bhd’s pre-tax profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017 (3Q17) fell to RM15 million from RM20 million in the same period last year mainly attributable to lower off-take for in-house products.

Revenue, however, rose by 12 per cent to RM575 million from RM515 million driven by increased orders from government’s hospitals and double- digit growth from the group’s operations in Indonesia, it said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

In a statement yesterday, chairman Tan Sri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin said the group was on track to deliver new product offerings to both local and overseas markets for the coming years which would strengthen earnings potential, driven by the company’s research and development.

“Towards this end, the government’s initiatives in Budget 2018 are indeed laudable,” he said.

He said from the total allocation of RM27 billion to provide quality healthcare services, RM2.5 billion has been allocated for medical supplies and RM1.6 billion for consumable and medical support items.

Along with this, funds had been allocated for treatment of increasing cases of rare diseases and a programme to raise awareness on non-communicable diseases, he said.

Lodin said these measures certainly bode well for Malaysia’s healthcare sector.

“Amid this encouraging backdrop, we are confident that Pharmaniaga as a leader in the pharmaceuticals industry is well- prepared to tap these opportunities,” he said. — Bernama THE Malaysian rubber market closed lower yesterday in tandem with the benchmark Tokyo Commodity Exchange’s ( TOCOM) rubber futures, a dealer said.

He said TOCOM rubber futures fell by more than three per cent, dragged down by weaker Shanghai rubber futures, coupled with a decline in oil prices. SHORT-TERM interbank rates closed stable yesterday on Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) intervention to absorb excess liquidity from the financial system.

The liquidity surplus in the conventional system fell to RM26.69 billion from RM33.80 billion previously, while in the Islamic system, it eased