Asiatic Laboratories to go public for Tk95 crore for anticancer and other drugs facility

Asiatic Laboratories Limited announced its plan to collect Tk95 crore from the stock market mainly for beginning anticancer drugs production.

It would also build modern facilities for non-cancer drugs with the support of investors, the company officials said in a road show event at a city hotel on Sunday for its planned initial public offering (IPO).

They communicated the company's business details and plans with the investors and stakeholders there.

Cancer cases are on the rise in Bangladesh due to food adulteration and sub-optimal nutrition intake that created an annual anticancer drugs market of Tk250 crore in the country, said Asiatic Laboratories Operations Director Sadia Ahmed.

But not enough local companies are making anticancer drugs and there is an import dependency.

Asiatic Laboratories would build a new facility to produce anticancer drugs which can be exported too, she announced, adding that the company would also invest in internationally approved facilities for various drugs so that it can enter developed markets.

"We have our vast lands unutilized in the factory premise at Tongi, Gazipur and we expect investors beside us to build modern plants there," Sadia Ahmed called for investors' support.

Alongside investing for new facilities, the company would partially pay its existing debts out of IPO funds.

The IPO is subject to the securities regulator's approval.

Monir Ahmed, Managing Director of the company, said, "Successfully completing the IPO will enable us to achieve our desired production capacity and market share."

"According to the projected financial statement, our sales revenue in 2025 will be 287.63 crore and production capacity will increase to 2.87 crore pieces per year. This means that the sales revenue will increase by 98% from the current sales revenue and the payback period is presumed 2.5 years," he added.

Local pharmaceutical companies have been working as the game changers in the industry as they are catering to around 98% market demand.

Asiatic Laboratories Ltd was incorporated as a private limited company on July 25, 1970 and came into commercial production in 1998. It was converted to a Public Limited Company on March 12, 2020.

Asiatic is engaged in the production and marketing of biological, non-biological and sterile products such as tablets, capsules, syrups, creams, eye products, injections etc.

In the meantime, 80 generics of different groups such as antibiotics, antihistamines, vitamin minerals, anti -ulcer ant, laxatives, skin products, eye products, NSAIDs are being supplied in the market.

At present, Asiatic Laboratories Ltd. is producing 6 million tablets, 5 million capsules, 2 million injections, 1.5 million tube creams and 1.6 million bottles of syrup every year.

The company's annual revenue in the 2020-21 fiscal year grew to Tk145 crore from Tk119.6 crore five years ago.

Against the existing paid up capital of Tk87.84 crore, Tk32 crore in the latest annual net profit yielded an earnings per share of Tk3.65, which was Tk2.79 in the 2016-17 fiscal year.

Excluding the asset revaluation surplus its net asset value per share was Tk35.48 at the end of June, which shot to Tk56.61 including the revaluation surplus.

Alongside Chairman Tahmina Begum, Executive Director Maqsood Ahmed, the company's independent director, company secretary, chief financial officer and other officials were present in the road show event.

Local merchant banks Shahjalal Equity Management is the issue manager and BMSL Investments is the registrar to the issue.