MEDICAL Disposables and Supplies (MDS), a distributor of pharmaceuticals, medical disposables and consumables products, continues to record a turnaround from the novel coronavirus pandemic-induced fallout.

The company, which reported losses last year, is back in the black. Profit amounting to $54 million over the first six months of its financial year — the period from April to September — is a reversal of the $13 million in losses recorded in the same period a year ago. The recovery was however visible from the third quarter of last year.

Kurt Boothe, chief executive officer at MDS, called the improved result “a steady progress” for the company which was “not completely insulated from the effects of the pandemic”.

Boothe said the enhanced result came from a conscious decision to restructure the company including additional personnel at both the management and support staff level. In addition to that, he said the company improved its infrastructure and overhauled its IT system to have more control and measurement tools to track the company’s processes and procedures.

“What gets measured gets done,” he said, expounding on how the upgraded IT system helped drive efficiency and transform the company, including the management of its inventory. Boothe pointed out that the operational control put in place meant MDS has not been affected by supply-chain issues which have been ravaging hundreds of companies and fuelling inflation in dozens of countries across the globe.

“Fortunately for us, we didn’t have a sales problem, and robust sales activity continued. Overall, a steady increase in sales revenues, coupled with operational control, trickled down to the bottom line,” he said.

Sales at MDS during the first six months of this year were valued at $1.6 billion. That was up 40 per cent from the prior year. Boothe said the trajectory looks positive for the rest of the year.

“There has been a significant improvement in the movement of pharmaceutical and medical disposable items, especially with fewer lockdown periods when compared to last year,” the company added in its financials.

The company said its medical division continues to grow with new opportunities being realised through the demand for personal protective equipment and sanitisation items. The strengthening of the consumer division has positively impacted total sales which reflects considerable growth in a number of product areas brought to the market within the last 18 months.

Meanwhile, Cornwall Enterprises, a company in which it holds a 60 per cent stake, is being integrated. Boothe said the plan was to integrate it over a two-year period, but with the progress so far, the integration is “slightly ahead of plan”.