Renata to export drugs to 15 more states

Sarwar A Chowdhury

Renata Ltd, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies and a market leader of animal health products in Bangladesh, plans to export its medicines to 15 more countries in bid to strengthen its presence in global market.

The company is expecting to make a footstep in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Thailand, Benin, Burkina Faso, Congo, Togo, Mauritius, Malaysia, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Gabon, Senegal and Ivory Coast in the coming days, senior officials of Renata said.

Presently the company does business with Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Myanmar, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Macao, Jordan, Kenya, Guyana and the UK.

“We expect to be in those countries during 2009-10 fiscal year,” Syed S Kaiser Kabir, chief executive officer and managing director of the company, told The Daily Star.

When asked about potential export earnings from the new destinations, he said: “Export markets are uncertain and sales cannot be predicted with accuracy, especially in the pharmaceutical business.”

He however expected 30 percent to 35 percent growth in sales and profit in the coming year.

Renata, which registered a 65.5 percent export growth last year, has filed 300 product dossiers to 21 countries to accelerate its export growth this year.

“These products will drive future volumes,” according to Renata's annual report, which was presented in the company's annual general meeting recently.

A listed company, Renata exported products worth $815,660 last year.

The net profit of the company, which contributed Tk 61.76 crore to the national exchequer, grew by 28.9 percent to Tk 43.31 crore on a net turnover of Tk 380.97 crore in 2008.

“While this performance is quite modest in relation to the track record of Renata, it must be judged in light of the difficult circumstances that characterised the year,” the annual report said.

“By the middle of 2008 it appeared that our earnings growth estimates would have to be revised downward. Fortunately, better-than-expected figures for contract manufacturing, interest costs, exchange rate depreciation and inventory revision provided a cushion against the cost increases,” it said.

The onset of global recession reversed the trend in petrochemical prices that in turn eased the pressure on pharmaceutical raw materials' costs, the report said.

Despite the unfavourable developments, outlook for Bangladeshi pharmaceutical companies remains positive, it said, adding that the industry has so far remained unaffected on the domestic front.

sarwar@thedailystar.net