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Tag: May & Baker

  • May & Baker Nigeria sustains steady growth in first half

    May & Baker Nigeria Plc rode against the industry and macroeconomic headwinds to sustain appreciable growth in its performance in the first half of this year as the healthcare group continued to benefit from improving cost and operating efficiencies.

    Against the general decline in revenue and profitability by most companies that have released their earnings reports, key extracts of the interim report and accounts of May & Baker Nigeria for the six-month period ended June 30, 2016 showed that turnover rose by nine per cent.  The group results showed that turnover rose to N3.70 billion in first half of 2016 compared with N3.41 billion in first half 2015.

    The company sustained growth in pre and post-tax profits.  It reduced its finance cost and distribution, sales and marketing expenses by 10 per cent and 12 per cent respectively. However, cost of sales grew by 16 per cent  from N2.25 billion to N2.60 billion due to increases in materials’ costs, devaluation of the Naira and high power cost driven by rampant gas outages. This affected gross profit, which reduced from N1.16 billion in first half 2015 to N1.1 billion in first half 2016.

    Nigeria’s inflation rate has risen consistently to 16.5 per cent while the devaluation of Naira from N199 to a dollar had pushed the exchange rate above N300 per dollar.

    The company continued to benefit from management’s focus on overall operational efficiency. While administrative expenses rose on the back of the jumpy inflation from N263.45 million to N309.48 million, distribution, sales and marketing expenses dropped by 12.4 per cent from N583.20 million to N510.84 million. With these, total operating expenses declined to N820.31 million in first half 2016 as against N846.65 million in first half 2015. Finance costs reduced from N284.38 million to N255.80 million.

    With these, profit before tax rose to N44.25 million in first half of 2016, against N43.73 million recorded in comparable period of 2015. Profit after tax also increased from N29.73 million to N30.09 million. Earnings per share thus improved from 3.03 kobo in first half 2015 to 3.07 kobo in first half 2016.

    This commendable first-half performance has raised the prospects of good returns in the ongoing business year. The company had increased total dividend payout by 20 per cent to N58.8 million, for the 2015 business year compared to what it paid for 2014 business year.

    Managing Director, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Mr. Nnamdi Okafor, had told shareholders at the 2016 Annual General Meeting (AGM) that management would remain focused on improving the performance of the company in spite of the challenges in the macro economy.  He assured that the company will remain focused on its long-term goal of building a virile and diversified business that can ensure good competitive long-term returns to the shareholders.

    The increase in sales and bottom-line shows the resilience of the underlying fundamentals of the company and the success of ongoing management’s initiatives aimed at optimising the synergies from its recent investments.

    Also, reviewing the outlook for the company recently, chairman, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Lt. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), told shareholders that the company was set to break new grounds and enhance the value of their investments.

    He said May & Baker Nigeria plans to expand into new business areas as it seeks new opportunities that will add value to its performance while sustaining the growth of existing businesses and investments.

  • May & Baker wins quality pharmaceutical award

    May & Baker wins quality pharmaceutical award

    May & Baker Nigeria Plc has been honoured for its commitment and leadership in pharmaceutical research and development.

    At the Nigerian Healthcare Excellence Awards (NHEA) held in Lagos, May & Baker Nigeria was presented with award of excellence in pharmaceutical research and development, the healthcare company’s second award in one month as the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) recently presented it with an award for high quality and safety in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

    The organisers of the NHEA award noted that May & Baker Nigeria has been synonymous with excellence since it started operations in Nigeria in 1944 as the first pharmaceutical company in the country.

    The organisers said the award committee took note of the several pioneering efforts of May & Baker Nigeria as the first Pharmaceutical company in Nigeria, first to introduce a new dosage of Chloroquine regimen, first ISO certified pharmaceutical company and one of the first set of pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria to receive World Health Organisation’s Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) certification.

    “As Nigeria’s first pharmaceutical company, May & Baker has for over seven decades, remained a key player in the nation’s healthcare industry. Generations of Nigerians have come to rely on the company for health support. The company’s reputation for quality is legendary. Every May & Baker product picked off from the shelf has a guarantee and stamp of quality that has been the hallmark of the company in Nigeria,” the NHEA stated.

    The organisers commended May & Baker Nigeria for its rigorous quality assurance procedure that starts with ensuring that the right quality input materials from suppliers are received, to continuous checking, testing and re-testing at each stage of manufacturing, employing the highest standard of current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) procedures, to continuous post sales surveillance and monitoring of all products through the distribution channel.

  • May & Baker outlines new strategic plan to sustain growth

    May & Baker outlines new strategic plan to sustain growth

    • Shareholders applaud 20% dividend increase

    May & Baker Nigeria Plc plans to expand into new business areas as it seeks new opportunities that will add value to its performance while sustaining the growth of existing businesses and investments.

    At the annual general meeting at Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos yesterday, chairman, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Lt. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), told shareholders that the company was set to break new grounds and enhance the value of their investments.

    According to him, with its existing businesses showing resilience and the continuing operational efficiency of its World Health Organisation (WHO)-certified pharmaceutical complex in Ota, Ogun State, May & Baker is shifting focus to acquire new competences and expand its business into new profitable ventures.

    “In the years ahead, our plan is to acquire necessary competences in new business areas and seek opportunities that will add value to our investments. At the same time we shall continue to leverage our installed capacity at the pharmaceutical facility in Ota, energise the food and beverages businesses by promoting existing brands and introducing new ones.  May & Baker has a great pedigree but the future is even more alluring as we make new strides and break new grounds,” Danjuma said.

    He explained that the company had delayed its capital raising in order not only to extract the greatest value for the existing shareholders that had toiled to build the company but also to ensure that new equity investments are in line with the strategic vision of future expansion and technical competences. It should be recalled that shareholders had in 2014 empowered the company to raise N3.2 billion new equity capital.

    He said the board had in the interest of all the shareholders decided not just to go for financial investments, but more importantly to look for investors that can, in addition, offer technology that will help the company to better leverage its Pharmacentre investment.

    “This way we shall secure both funding and technology competencies to delve into new areas,” Danjuma said.

    He said the company has restarted discussions with the President Muhammadu Buhari government on the joint venture business for local vaccine production and the signals from the discussions indicate that government is positive on the local production and the revised joint venture agreement will soon be ratified by the Federal Executive Council.

    “We have absolute confidence in this project and that explains why we have not given up on it through these many years of delay. The need to produce vaccine in Nigeria has become even more imperative because the major foreign donor agency for vaccine, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI) has indicated its desire to withdraw sponsorship by 2022. This leaves local vaccine production as the only sustainable avenue to keep our population secure from immunizable diseases,” Danjuma said.

    He noted that the performance of the company in 2015, in spite of the challenges in the economy, showed that it has continued to be resilient and focused on creating values for shareholders.

    The audited financial statement shows that sales grew by 7.8 per cent while increased cost efficiency and internal control boosted pre-tax profit by 41 per cent.  Turnover rose from N7.02 billion in 2014 to N7.57 billion in 2015. Operating expenses reduced by 11 per cent, while distribution, sales and marketing expenses remained flat at 2014 level.   Administrative expenses also reduced by 8.4 per cent from N641.33 million in 2014 to N587.3 million in 2015. Finance charges which has remained a major headache of the company is gradually also being contained. Cost of funding the business was thus reduced by 2.6 per cent from N603.87 million in 2014 to N588.18 in 2015. With this level of operational efficiency, profit before tax grew from N101.2 million in 2014 to N142.4 million in 2015. However, due to significant increase in  total tax burden to N74 million,  the  growth in after tax profit  was slowed to  7.41 per cent,  from N63.34 million in 2014  to N68.03 million in 2015.

  • May & Baker to honour outstanding pharmacist

    President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Ahmed Yakasai, has inaugurated the selection committee for the 12th edition of the May & Baker Professional Service Awards.

    The committee comprised five eminent pharmacists led by Maureen Ebigbeyi, a fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria and Director, Ports Inspection Directorate, National Agency for Foods, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC). The winner of this year’s award is expected to be announced at the 89th Annual National Conference of the PSN, scheduled for Mina, Niger State, in November.

    The May& Baker Professional Service Award in Pharmacy was instituted in 2005 by May & Baker Nigeria Plc to recognise outstanding achievements and contributions in the practice of pharmacy in Nigeria.  It targets individual practitioners, public servants, academics and researchers, who have made outstanding and excellent contributions to the profession. The award carries N500, 000 prize and it is organised in collaboration with the PSN.

    Inaugurating the committee, Yakasai commended May & Baker Nigeria for instituting the award noting that the award in its 11 years history has helped the growth and development of pharmacy in Nigeria by encouraging pharmacists to work towards excellence.

    He added that the award has also encouraged pharmacists to track and document their contributions in the practice of the profession.

    He urged other pharmaceutical companies to emulate the example of May & Baker by instituting programmes that would promote pharmacy practice in Nigeria.

    Managing Director, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Mr. Nanmdi Okafor commended the PSN for working with May & Baker over the years to ensure the success of the award.

     

     

    He said the caliber of people always chosen to manage the award every year proves that the PSN takes the award project seriously, assuring that May & Baker remains committed to the objectives of the award and will do what is necessary to improve on its offerings.

     

  • NSE, brokers pick May & Baker as stock to watch for sustainable growth

    May & Baker Nigeria Plc has sustainable growth potential and its fundamentals and investments have positioned it to deliver better returns in the medium to long term.

    This was the assessment of top management and dealers at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) who undertook a factory tour of May & Baker Nigeria’s manufacturing complex in Ota, Ogun State. The manufacturing complex includes May & Baker Nigeria’s World Health Organisation (WHO)-certified pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, otherwise known as The Pharma Centre.

    May & Baker Nigeria’s share price recorded the highest gain last week at the NSE, rising by 10.64 per cent to close at N1.04 per share. The benchmark index at the NSE, the All Share Index (ASI), indicated a week-on-week average gain of 0.05 per cent.

    Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr Oscar Onyema led the team of the leadership of the Nigerian stock market, which included president, Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), Mr Emeka Madubuike and Doyen of Stockbrokers, Mr. Sam Ndata.

    Onyema said May & Baker Nigeria has taken a long-term view of development by its investments in the Ota manufacturing complex noting that such long-term view guarantees sustainable growth.

    “Another thing that impresses me about the company is that most quoted companies want to see their share price do well. They want short-term gain. So they take a shorter view to investing. But the company has done the opposite. It takes a long-term view which, in my opinion, is more sustainable,” Onyema said.

    He said the current share price of the company belied its earnings potential and reflected the downturn in the national economy and the stock market.

    “We commend you for the diversification of your business and for the long term investment strategy. The low price of your share is reflective of the general condition of the Nigerian economy. Be assured that your share price will go up once the economy picks up. This is because the company has good fundamentals, like your price earnings ratio is a good indicator to show that the company has bright future,” Onyema said.

    He said the factory tour has given the market opportunity to get acquainted with the challenges the company is facing, the opportunities before it and its expectations for the future, adding that he was fascinated by the diversification as well as the long-term nature of May & Baker Nigeria’s vision.

    Onyema said the company should consider a combination of bond and equity issue as it seeks to raise fresh fund to bolster its operations and deleverage its balance sheet.

    Madubuike said May & Baker Nigeria is a stock for investors that seek stable and sustainable returns on investments.

    According to him, May & Baker Nigeria will make a lot of progress with its investments and it is one of the companies for the future.

    Ndata praised the management of May & Baker Nigeria and urged them to interact more with the investing public in order to give them better understanding of the prospects of the company.

    “It is a stock for the future, it is best to buy now that the price is low, anybody that buys now will be smiling to the bank later,” Ndata said.

    Managing Director, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Mr. Nnamdi Okafor, said the share price of the company does not reflect its fundamental values and recent investments, including its position as one of the four pharmaceutical companies certified by the WHO as having current general manufacturing practices.

    “May & Baker Nigeria has potentials as a strong Sub-Saharan African brand. A country with huge population of over 188.6 million people; biggest economy in Africa; strong Gross Domestic Product growth rate of 6.5  per cent in 2014 to 4.0 per cent in 2016 and vibrant workforce with emerging middle class, has a lot to benefit from the success of this our great company,” Okafor said.

    He noted that the pharmaceutical business contributes 70 per cent of the company’s revenue and recapitalisation of the business would improve its ability to compete in current and planned businesses.

  • NSE, brokers pick May & Baker as stock to watch for sustainable growth

    May & Baker Nigeria Plc has sustainable growth potential and its fundamentals and investments have positioned it to deliver better returns in the medium to long term.

    This was the assessment of top management and dealers at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) who undertook a factory tour of May & Baker Nigeria’s manufacturing complex in Ota, Ogun State. The manufacturing complex includes May & Baker Nigeria’s World Health Organisation (WHO)-certified pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, otherwise known as The Pharma Centre.

    May & Baker Nigeria’s share price recorded the highest gain last week at the NSE, rising by 10.64 per cent to close at N1.04 per share. The benchmark index at the NSE, the All Share Index (ASI), indicated a week-on-week average gain of 0.05 per cent.

    Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr Oscar Onyema led the team of the leadership of the Nigerian stock market, which included president, Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), Mr Emeka Madubuike and Doyen of Stockbrokers, Mr. Sam Ndata.

    Onyema said May & Baker Nigeria has taken a long-term view of development by its investments in the Ota manufacturing complex noting that such long-term view guarantees sustainable growth.

    “Another thing that impresses me about the company is that most quoted companies want to see their share price do well. They want short-term gain. So they take a shorter view to investing. But the company has done the opposite. It takes a long-term view which, in my opinion, is more sustainable,” Onyema said.

    He said the current share price of the company belied its earnings potential and reflected the downturn in the national economy and the stock market.

    “We commend you for the diversification of your business and for the long term investment strategy. The low price of your share is reflective of the general condition of the Nigerian economy. Be assured that your share price will go up once the economy picks up. This is because the company has good fundamentals, like your price earnings ratio is a good indicator to show that the company has bright future,” Onyema said.

    He said the factory tour has given the market opportunity to get acquainted with the challenges the company is facing, the opportunities before it and its expectations for the future, adding that he was fascinated by the diversification as well as the long-term nature of May & Baker Nigeria’s vision.

    Onyema said the company should consider a combination of bond and equity issue as it seeks to raise fresh fund to bolster its operations and deleverage its balance sheet.

    Madubuike said May & Baker Nigeria is a stock for investors that seek stable and sustainable returns on investments.

    According to him, May & Baker Nigeria will make a lot of progress with its investments and it is one of the companies for the future.

    Ndata praised the management of May & Baker Nigeria and urged them to interact more with the investing public in order to give them better understanding of the prospects of the company.

    “It is a stock for the future, it is best to buy now that the price is low, anybody that buys now will be smiling to the bank later,” Ndata said.

    Managing Director, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Mr. Nnamdi Okafor, said the share price of the company does not reflect its fundamental values and recent investments, including its position as one of the four pharmaceutical companies certified by the WHO as having current general manufacturing practices.

    “May & Baker Nigeria has potentials as a strong Sub-Saharan African brand. A country with huge population of over 188.6 million people; biggest economy in Africa; strong Gross Domestic Product growth rate of 6.5  per cent in 2014 to 4.0 per cent in 2016 and vibrant workforce with emerging middle class, has a lot to benefit from the success of this our great company,” Okafor said.

    He noted that the pharmaceutical business contributes 70 per cent of the company’s revenue and recapitalisation of the business would improve its ability to compete in current and planned businesses.

  • May & Baker improves earnings in first-half

    May & Baker Nigeria Plc recorded impressive growths in the top-line and bottom-line in the first half of the year as latest earnings report indicated that the leading healthcare company has continued to consolidate the recent recovery in earnings performance.

    Key extracts of the interim report and accounts for the period ended June 30, 2015 showed that May & Baker strengthened its underlying fundamentals, which impacted positively on the actual profit and loss items. Gross profit margin improved to 34 per cent in first half 2015 as against 31.59 per cent in comparable period of last year. Operating profit margin also improved from 5.03 per cent in 2014 to 9.35 per cent this year. As against a negative pre-tax margin of -5.23 per cent in first half of last year, the company posted a modest pre-tax profit margin of 1.29 per cent in first half 2015.

    The six-month report showed a top-down well-rounded performance, driven by growths across all the business segments of the company. Turnover rose by 10.7 per cent to N3.41 billion in first half 2015 as against N3.08 billion in comparable period of 2014. Gross profit improved from N972.59 million in 2014 to N1.16 billion, representing an increase of 19.2 per cent. Operating profit doubled by 105.7 per cent from N155.16 million to N319.1 million. As against loss of N161.13 million in first half 2014, the company recorded modest pre and post tax profit of N43.73 million and N29.73 million respectively. Earnings per share thus stood at 3.03 kobo as against loss per share of 16.44 kobo in comparable period of last year.

    The performance was driven by appreciable growths in all the business segments and improving internal cost management. Segmental analysis showed that turnover in the pharmaceuticals business improved from N2.11 billion in first half 2014 to N2.34 billion in first half 2015. Beverage business turned in N33.23 million sales in first half 2015 compared with N29.91 million in comparable period of 2014 while the foods business improved sales from N941.65 million to N965.15 million.

    Administrative expenses declined to N263.45 million in first half of the year compared with N283.18 million in first half last year, while finance costs had declined from N309.16 million to N284.39 million.

    The latest report further strengthened the overall outlook of the company, which had rebounded to profitability in 2014. The audited report and accounts of May & Baker Nigeria for the year ended December 31, 2014 had that group turnover rose to N7 billion in 2014 as against N6.3 billion recorded in 2013. Gross profit also rose by 13.2 per cent from N2.3 billion to N2.6 billion. Profit before tax stood at N101.1 million in 2014 compared with a pre-tax loss of N11.4 million in 2013. After taxes, net profit was modest at N63 million as against net loss of N103 million recorded in 2013.

    The report indicated that cost containment and efficient resource utilisation were responsible for the rebound. The company reduced financing charges, distribution, sales and marketing expenses to optimise the top-line growth and return the bottom-line to the positive side.

    Operational profitability rose by 16.2 per cent while sales and marketing expenses dropped by three per cent. Finance costs also dropped by 4.2 per cent. However, finance cost still remains a challenge to the company.

    May & Baker raised her capacity to produce more products with the construction of the world-class pharmaceutical centre known as the PharmaCentre located in Ota, Ogun State.

    The facility has raised May & Baker’s production capacity by over 60 per cent.

     

     

    However, the company got under pressure from financing charges and depreciation allowances as a result of its new pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, which was financed largely by loans during the 2008-2009 capital market recession.

    Finance costs rose by 34.3 per cent to N630.71 million in 2013 compared with N469.63 million in 2012, while the company provided about N240 million annually in 2013 and 2014 out of its gross profit for the depreciation of the new pharmaceutical  facility with monthly depreciation average of N19.8 million. Depreciation on the new plant started in second quarter of 2012.

    The Pharma Centre  is a mega investment in the pharmaceutical sector targeted at making Nigeria one of the leading producers of quality medicines in the world. It is one of the few Nigerian pharmaceutical facilities that were recently certified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). The PharmaCentre is currently undergoing the process of WHO pre-qualification for its specific products.

    In a recent interview with The Nation, managing director, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Mr. Nnamdi Okafor, said the company will consolidate its performance in the years ahead.

    According to him, with the completion and stability of the new factory, which is now running well, management’s focus has shifted to how to optimize the potential of the new factory to generate returns for shareholders.

    “Just on its own, we are going to get a lot of returns from that facility going forward because the output is getting better, the efficiency of the processes is improving, and with that we believe the products should be coming out at a lower cost unit as we do more volumes and our margins will also get better. But beyond that, we have taken a look at our products portfolio and we are repositioning the company in a way that we put emphasis on those products that are not what everybody is doing in the market. Those products surely will give us better returns,” Okafor said.

    He said The Pharma-Centre as a centre of excellence would soon begin to do specialized products that will have better margins and will lead to higher profits for the company.

    He noted that with the WHO certification, the company has been getting a lot of enquiries from multinational companies abroad which want to manufacture on contract basis from that facility, and some Nigerian companies that want quality products; wanting to do their products from the Pharma-Centre.

    “Those enquiries are coming in and we are already taking on some of them, what they will do is to help us improve the capacity utilization and that will help us to reduce unit cost of products. The most important thing for us at this stage is to reduce our borrowings. We have not been borrowing since last year, though we still use some level of bank overdrafts. We want to get some equity in so that we can pay off the loans we have now and plough back the huge interests we pay into the bottom-line and then we will be able to have a lot more to share to shareholders. So, this year, apart from trying to ensure that we manage our costs better, that we improve our processes to be more efficient, we are also looking at being able to bring some level of equity so that we can reduce our dependence on loans. That’s basically what we are doing and we believe we are going to have some good returns this year,” Okafor said.

    “We have gone from the situation where we had to battle with the full weight of depreciation of the facility and paying interest on borrowed money and trying to get the facility to work well, all these in a year, that was in 2012 that we also had to cope with the conversion to the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS); now things are getting better because progressively these things are being resolved. Also, with the progress we are making on the WHO front, we are positive that in the next one year, we should be able to export our first product. We believe that before the end of this year, we must have prequalified the first product out of Pharma-Centre, export the product and participate in the global tenders for the donor agencies-funded drug supply to Nigeria. So, things are getting better going forward,” Okafor added.

    Chairman, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Lt. General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), told shareholders in May that the company would raise new equity funds later this year to deleverage its balance sheet and consolidate the gains of its recent investments and profitability.

    Danjuma indicated that the company may opt for rights issue to compensate shareholders that had bore the burden of the company’s huge depreciation and interest financing, which depressed profit in the previous year.

    Shareholders had earlier in 2014 approved a resolution authorizing the board of the company to raise additional N3.2 billion through rights issue or private placements.

    Danjuma said the new equity issue was delayed to give investors opportunity to pick their rights in recognition of their supports for the company.

    “The company has not been able to consummate this offer on account of due considerations of timing and the readiness of our members to fully pay for their stakes. We are mindful of the sacrifices members have made in the past when the company was under pressure of constructing the plant in Ota and we realise that it will only be fair to open the offer when majority of us will be able to take our rights,” Danjuma said.

    He called on the shareholders to prepare to take up their Rights in the current financial year to enable the company raise more equity for its operations.

    “I am optimistic that as soon as soon as we are able to recapitalize the business we shall take down the high financing cost which is currently taking substantial earnings off the company. This will put us in a stronger position to fully leverage our installed capacity, aggressively promote our existing brands, launch the new products and businesses in our pipeline and deliver better profits,” Danjuma said.

     

     

     

  • May & Baker to raise new equity funds

    •Shareholders laud dividend payment

    May &Baker Nigeria Plc plans to raise new equity funds in the second half as the healthcare company rebounded with a profit before tax of N101.1 million in 2014.

    Chairman, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Lt. General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), said the company would raise new equity funds later this year to deleverage its balance sheet and consolidate the gains of its recent investments and profitability.

    Danjuma indicated that the company may opt for rights issue to compensate shareholders that had bore the burden of the company’s huge depreciation and interest financing, which depressed profit in the previous year.

    Shareholders had earlier in 2014 approved a resolution authorizing the board of the company to raise additional N3.2 billion through rights issue or private placements.

    Danjuma said the new equity issue was delayed to give investors opportunity to pick their rights in recognition of their supports for the company.

    “The company has not been able to consummate this offer on account of due considerations of timing and the readiness of our members to fully pay for their stakes. We are mindful of the sacrifices members have made in the past when the company was under pressure of constructing the plant in Ota and we realise that it will only be fair to open the offer when majority of us will be able to take our rights,” Danjuma said.

    He called on the shareholders to prepare to take up their Rights in the current financial year to enable the company raise more equity for its operations.

    Key extracts of the audited report and accounts for the year ended December 31, 2014 showed that the company’s profit before tax rose by 818 per cent from N11.4 million in 2013 to N101.1 million in 2014. Profit after tax stood at N63 million in 2014 as against net loss of N103 million in 2013. Turnover rose to N7 billion in 2014 as against N6.3 billion in 2013, representing a growth of 11 per cent.

    Danjuma, at the annual general meeting in Lagos, said the performance in 2014 reflected the gains of cost containment measures and efficient allocation of resources by the management, which drastically reduced the level of money paid by the company to service debt obligations.

    He however noted that the company continued to suffer high finance charges resulting from its dependence on bank and related loans, a trend the pharmaceutical giant has had to live with for several years now since it undertook the construction of its new pharmaceutical manufacturing  facility in Ota, Ogun State.

    He pointed out that the company paid a total of N600 million on finance charges in 2014, a 4.2 per cent reduction from the figure of N630 million paid for similar charges in 2013 noting that the huge interest expense could have added to the profit of the company and subsequently the dividends paid to shareholders if it was trading with its own funds.

    “I am optimistic that as soon as soon as we are able to recapitalise the business we shall take down the high financing cost which is currently taking substantial earnings off the company. This will put us in a stronger position to fully leverage our installed capacity, aggressively promote our existing brands, launch the new products and businesses in our pipeline and deliver better profits,” Danjuma said.

    Managing Director, May & Baker Nigeria, Mr. Nnamdi Okafor said steady progress is being made by the company in the areas product formulation, development and marketing.

    He said recent strategic efforts have helped to grow the business of the company in the last three years with consistent improvements in turnover.

    According to him, despite increasing challenges in the economy, the company’s has steadily improved on its profitability as gross margins have consistently improved in the last three years

    He outlined other recent milestones by the company to include the certification of its pharmaceutical manufacturing facility by the World Health Organisation(WHO) on Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), poting out that this achievement has opened the doors of the company to international business enquiries which will soon translate into huge revenue and profits.

    He noted that the recent celebration of 70 years of doing business in Nigeria by May & Baker is also creating additional confidence in stakeholders who see the pharmaceutical giant as a viable and sustainable business organisation.

    Shareholders of the company commended the return to profitability and the resumption of dividend payment. They unanimously approved the payment of a dividend per share of 5.0 kobo for the 2014 business year.

    President, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN), Mr. Bonifae Okezie, shareholders were that the company has returned to profit noting that with the modest dividend payment for the 2014 business year, the expectation is that it would improve to higher dividend in the years ahead.

    “Let me thank the board and management for a job well down. Though, the dividend of 5.0 kobo is small but if we look at where we were coming and the gigantic project that the company just completed, then we need to appreciate the management of the company. We hope that this will improve in the current financial year,” Okezie said.

    It will be recalled that the company got under pressure from financing charges and depreciation allowances as a result of its new  pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, which was financed largely by loans during the 2008-2009 capital market recession. Finance costs rose by 34.3 per cent to N630.71 million in 2013 compared with N469.63 million in 2012, while the company provided about N240 million annually in 2013  and 2014 out of its gross profit for the depreciation of the new pharmaceutical  facility with monthly depreciation average of N19.8 million. The year 2014 was the first full year of depreciation.

    May & Baker had raised her capacity to produce more products with the construction of the world class pharmaceutical centre known as the PharmaCentre located in Ota Ogun State. The facility has raised May & Baker’s production capacity by over 60 per cent. The PharmaCentre  is a mega investment in the pharmaceutical sector targeted at making Nigeria one of the leading producers of quality medicines in the world. It is one of the few Nigerian pharmaceutical facilities that were recently certified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). The PharmaCentre is currently undergoing the process of WHO pre-qualification for its specific products.

     

  • May & Baker records improved earnings

    May & Baker Nigeria Plc recorded impressive growths in the top-line and bottom-line in 2014 as latest earnings report showed that the leading healthcare company has begun to overcome the challenges associated with building and depreciating its world class pharmaceutical plant.

    Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of May & Baker Nigeria for the year ended December 31, 2014 released yesterday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed that turnover rose by 10.2 per cent while the company replaced its loss position with profit.

    Group turnover rose to N7 billion in 2014 as against N6.3 billion recorded in 2013. Gross profit also rose by 13.2 per cent from N2.3 billion to N2.6 billion. Profit before tax stood at N101.1 million in 2014 compared with a pre-tax loss of N11.4 million in 2013. After taxes, net profit was modest at N63 million as against net loss of N103 million recorded in 2013.

    The report indicated that cost containment and efficient resource utilisation were responsible for the rebound. The company reduced financing charges, distribution, sales and marketing expenses to optimize the top-line growth and return the bottom-line to the positive side.

    Operational profitability rose by 16.2 per cent while sales and marketing expenses dropped by three per cent. Finance costs also dropped by 4.2 per cent. However, finance cost still remains a challenge to the company.

    It should be recalled that May & Baker had raised her capacity to produce more products with the construction of the world class pharmaceutical centre known as the PharmaCentre located in Ota, Ogun State. The facility has raised May & Baker’s production capacity by over 60 per cent.

    However, the company got under pressure from financing charges and depreciation allowances as a result of its new pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, which was financed largely by loans during the 2008-2009 capital market recession.

    Finance costs rose by 34.3 per cent to N630.71 million in 2013 compared with N469.63 million in 2012, while the company provided about N240 million annually in 2013 and 2014 out of its gross profit for the depreciation of the new pharmaceutical  facility with monthly depreciation average of N19.8 million. Depreciation on the new plant started in second quarter of 2012.

    The Pharma Centre  is a mega investment in the pharmaceutical sector targeted at making Nigeria one of the leading producers of quality medicines in the world. It is one of the few Nigerian pharmaceutical facilities that were recently certified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). The PharmaCentre is currently undergoing the process of WHO pre-qualification for its specific products.

    In a recent interview with The Nation, Managing Director, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Mr. Nnamdi Okafor, said the company will consolidate its performance in the years ahead.

    According to him, with the completion and stability of the new factory, which is now running well, management’s focus has shifted to how to optimise the potential of the new factory to generate returns for shareholders.

    “Just on its own, we are going to get a lot of returns from that facility going forward because the output is getting better, the efficiency of the processes is improving, and with that we believe the products should be coming out at a lower cost unit as we do more volumes and our margins will also get better. But beyond that, we have taken a look at our products portfolio and we are repositioning the company in a way that we put emphasis on those products that are not what everybody is doing in the market. Those products surely will give us better returns,” Okafor said.

    He said The Pharma-Centre as a centre of excellence would soon begin to do specialised products that will have better margins and will lead to higher profits for the company.

    He noted that with the WHO certification, the company has been getting a lot of enquiries from multinational companies abroad which want to manufacture on contract basis from that facility, and some Nigerian companies that want quality products; wanting to do their products from the Pharma-Centre.

  • May & Baker Nigeria, UN partner on national healthcare

    May & Baker Nigeria Plc and United Nations are seeking to establish a partnership that will enhance domestic provision of quality and affordable medicines for treatment of Nigerians.

    The United Nations, through the United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) is seeking to partner with  May & Baker Nigeria as part of efforts to establish a private sector-driven partnership for the provision of quality and affordable medicines for the treatment of persons infected with the Human Imuno-Deficiency Virus (HIV). This indication was given recently by the country director of UNAIDS Dr. Bilali Camara, when he visited May & Baker Nigeria Plc in Lagos.

    According to Camara, UNAIDS seeks to partner with the premier pharmaceutical company in Nigeria, May & Baker because of her quality standards that has received international recognition such as that of the World Health Organization.

    He said the World’s AID control body has recognised the imperative of local production in the efforts towards making HIV drugs available to over six million people infected with the virus in Nigeria, West and Central Africa.

    He said UNAIDS is working with multinationals in Africa to bring reduction in the spread of the virus. Currently, the coverage level in Nigeria is about 42 per cent, meaning that about 60 per cent of the infected persons do not receive treatment, resulting to over 230,000 deaths annually.

    The UNAIDS chief said the new focus of the organisation is awareness creation, by making people know their HIV status.  To this end , UNAIDS has introduced what he called the 90-90-90 Initiative in which 90 per cent of those living with the virus should know their status, 90 per cent of those tested will be put on treatment and  90 per cent of cases will be brought under control.  This he said will reduce transmission by 96 per cent.

    To achieve this, Camara said UNAIDS is seeking to make more test kits available especially for pregnant women and children.

    In his response, Managing Director,  May & Baker Nigeria, Mr. Nnamdi Okafor said May & Baker is delighted to be invited as a   pioneer partner in the  UNAIDS 90, 90, 90 Initiative.

    He assured the visiting UNAIDS team of the readiness of the company to  put her knowledge, experience and expertise  on any worthy cause that promotes the good health of  people.

    He said May & Baker has gone beyond getting the current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP)  declaration by the  WHO to the level of presenting dossiers for the prequalification of her products, which include a basket of anti-retroviral drugs.

    He expressed optimism about the eventual  prequalification of these ARV drugs which he said will be made available for the treatment of People Living with HIV in Nigeria and beyond. He also said that May & Baker has expertise to work with UNAIDS in the area of HIV kits being one of the first companies in Nigeria to market and distribute these products.