Amid challenges facing the manufacturing industry in Nigeria, Nigeria’s pharmaceutical company, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, has recorded a total revenue of N10.3 billion from January to September, 2022.
This represent 27 per cent rise compared to N8.1 billion total revenue recorded from January to September 2021.
The company’s Profit Before Tax (PBT) grew from N1.3 billion in 2021 to N1.7 billion in 2022, representing 31 per cent growth. Its working capital grew from N5.3 billion in 2021 to N6.5 billion, representing 23 per cent growth, in the period under review.
Managing director/CEO, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Mr. Patrick Ajah, at the company’s end of year media parley in Lagos, attributed the company’s encouraging performance to its commitment to quality; while striving to make it products affordable, adherence to compliance, manufacturing excellence, strong supply chain capabilities and the unwavering support of its board of directors.
Ajah however disclosed that the company’s PBT was severely impacted by the significant increase in cost of goods and other operating costs. While revenue was growing at 27 per cent, the CEO said cost of goods was growing at 47 per cent on the average and the cost of paracetamol API has doubled since last year.
“Other operating expenses grew by about 30 per cent driven mostly by power which on its own was growing at more than 50 per cent and even worse during gas outages. We were able to mitigate some of these costs with some marginal price increases, operational efficiencies driven by increasing volumes and better production planning and of course the reduction in admin expenses,” he stated.
Speaking on May & Baker’s top priorities in 2030, Ajah said the company will be commissioning its new Multi-Million Naira, Lily Water factory and have procured state of the art water bottling and purification machines that will enhance top notch production and packaging of bottled water. “We will also be making significant investments in new machines for our Paracetamol plant and the Pharmacentre to ensure we are able to meet our growing demands both for new and existing products,” he added.
On the local production of vaccines, the CEO said the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the first part of the MOU of Biovaccines with the Federal Ministry of Health for supply of routine immunization vaccines, adding that this is the major step towards vaccine production in Nigeria, as this allows Biovaccines to commence the engagement with the chosen Technology transfer partners and subsequently initiate the design and construction of the greenfield project. “We are optimistic that the groundbreaking ceremony for the vaccine production facility will happen before Q2 of 2023 and we will keep you all well informed on the dates progress of events,” he averred.
