Montego Bay-based pharmaceutical company Indies Pharma is reporting that 2020 has been a record year for the company, in spite of the many challenges faced this year as a result of the global pandemic.

Indies Pharma chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder Dr Guna Muppuri told the Jamaica Observer that this year the company pulled in the most profit ever since its inception in 2018. He was quick to point out that this feat was achieved even with the downturn in the Jamaican economy caused by the deadly coronavirus.

Indies Pharma experienced a surge in profits for its just-ended 2020 financial year, which increased to $199.1 million, representing a 46.3 per cent jump in 2020 when compared to 2019. The pharmaceutical company managed to slash its administrative and other expenses by $18.4 million this year.

PROFITABILITY AIDED BY BIG CUT IN ADMIN AND OTHER EXPENSES

This greatly assisted Indies Pharma in increasing its profitability in 2020. The cut in admin and other expenses was mainly due to the decline in rent, vehicle expenses, information technology, security and one-off expenses noted in the prior year.

Despite the challenges faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic Indies Pharma achieved revenues of $765.9 million, representing an increase of five per cent or 36.5 million over the corresponding period in 2019. In its fourth -uarter report for the period ended October 2020 Indies Pharma emphasised that it would have seen a significant growth in its revenues had it not been for the coronavirus pandemic.

GROSS PROFIT UP 14% TO $525 MILLION

Gross profit for the twelve-month period amounted to $525 million, representing a 14.1 per cent or $65-million increase when compared with the similar period in 2019. Similarly, there was an increase of 11.5 per cent or $13 million recorded for the fourth quarter in comparison to the same period in 2019.

Earnings per share for the twelve-month period increased by 50 per cent to $0.15 cents per share compared to $0.10 cents in the prior period in 2019. Additionally, the Indies Pharma stock price closed at $2.69 at the end of the fourth quarter, representing an increase of 79.3 per centor $1.19 per share since the company’s Junior Market listing on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

Shareholders’ equity increased by 14.4 per cent or $98 million when compared to the similar period in the previous year. The reason for this was the revaluation of company’s assets and an increase in retained earnings for the period.

Long-term liabilities increased to $882 million, which was predominantly due to Indies Pharma floating a bond that was utilised to repay the loan of $398 million used for the purchase of land for the construction of the company’s corporate office in Montego Bay. In addition to the corporate office, the land purchase will also be used to increase its warehousing capacities as well as to fund the development and approval of two new drugs in the United States by the US Food and Drug Administration.

LIQUIDITY POSITION REMAINS STRONG

There has also been a decrease in trade payables. Indies Pharma’s liquidity position remains healthy with a current ratio of 22:1, meaning that the company has $22 of current assets for every $1 of current liabilities.

The return on equity for the fourth quarter increased to 26 per cent from 21.5 per cent in the previous quarter. This shows a strong indication of how well Indies Pharma is managing its assets to create profits. The earning per share increased by 50 per cent to $0.15 per share, coming from the $0.10 share for prior year 12-month period.

Indies Pharma co-founder and executive director, Vishnu Muppuri reported that “this shows a strong indication of how well Indies Pharma Jamaica Limited managed during the pandemic crisis. It is poised to deliver consistently better profits to its shareholders”.