H1 2015 Financial Result - Revenue Growth from First Quarter and 4% Year-On-Year Increase in Profit

Fidson Healthcare Plc. recently released its results for this first half of 2015 on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, reporting a quarter-on-quarter growth in revenue of 128% as sales returned to normal levels post-elections. The H1 revenue was, however, down by 12% to N4.034 billion compared to N4.573 billion in the same period last year. In contrast the company recorded a modest increase in PBT year-on-year (from N456 million in 2014 to N477 million in 2015), which represents a 4% increase in EPS to N0.22 from N0.21.

Despite the year-on-year slowdown in sales, which was largely due to the prolonged general elections and transition period, margins improved over the first 6 months and this was driven by the company's cost optimisation drive. Operating expenses dropped by 67%, from N150 million in H1’14 to N49 million in H1’15, with selling and distribution expenses also decreasing from N605 million to N325 million, a decline of 46%.

The company, who recently emerged as the recipient of the prestigious Frost & Sullivan 2014 Growth Excellence Leadership Award in the Nigerian Pharmaceutical Industry, continues to gear up for the commissioning of her WHO Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliant plant, where she would manufacture IV fluids in addition to existing product offerings. The new plant is scheduled to be operational before the end of 2015 and is expected to broaden Fidson’s product base and increase its capacity.

Fidson’s growth opportunities have also recently been enhanced by the announcement of her partnership with Immune Therapeutics Inc., a U.S. public company to market Lodonal^TM in Nigeria. Lodonal^TM is a patent-protected product that is indicated for the management of patients with immune-compromise.

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