Renata to open three new plants this year

Renata Limited (formerly Pfizer Limited), the country’s fourth-largest drugmaker and the market leader of animal health products, will start operations of its three new factories by the end of 2022.

The company has been heavily investing in capital expenditure, mainly in the plant, machinery, and distribution infrastructure, according to its latest annual report.

In FY21, the pharma company invested a total of Tk 397.33 crore, including Tk 119.97 crore in developing infrastructure and Tk 277.36 crore in plant and machinery, said the EBL Securities in its note after analysing the company’s annual report.

“In addition, there has been a significant enhancement of R&D infrastructure on our Rajendrapur and Mirpur sites. It is worth noting that our first factory built by Pfizer is now being converted into an R&D center,” said Renata Chairman Sarwar Ali in the annual report.

Financial performance

The company’s sales in the pharmaceuticals segment grew by 15.6 per cent against 11.6 per cent market growth and retained its leadership position in the animal health business that grew by 8.8 per cent compared to 8.4 per cent market growth.

Its net turnover increased more than 21 per cent to Tk 2,997 crore in FY21 hit by the pandemic.

After analysing Renata’s performance during the first half of the current fiscal year, the EBL Securities forecast that the company’s net revenue will touch Tk 3,086 crore in FY22.

Its net profit increased 26 per cent to Tk 506 crore in FY21, which may increase to Tk 549 crore in FY22, said the brokerage firm.

In the last two financial years, Renata over-utilized its capacity, which will boost the company’s productivity and consequently the turnover in the subsequent year, it said.

Subsidiaries performance

The company has two subsidiaries, Purnava Limited and Renata Agro Industries Limited. For the first time in last financial year, the subsidiaries saw profits.

Purnava Limited recorded a net profit of Tk 1.07 crore in FY21, reversing from a loss of Tk 1.36 crore seen in FY 20 with a growth of about 179 per cent.

This is attributable to increased capacity utilisation, growth in sales of hygiene products like Purnava Hand Sanitizer, and increased health awareness of the population, the company said in the annual report.

Renata Agro has been incurring losses since FY 18. In FY20, Renata Agro faced losses of over Tk 10 crore.

At the beginning of FY21, Renata Agro Ltd carried out a significant restructuring of the business, which helped the company make a profit.

This restructuring enabled Renata Agro to achieve an increase in turnover of 32.1 per cent and also made a modest net profit of more than Tk 1.67 crore.

Company at a glance

The company started its operations in 1972 as Pfizer (Bangladesh) Limited. In 1993, Pfizer transferred the ownership of its Bangladesh operations to local shareholders and the company was renamed Renata.

It was listed in 1979. The core businesses of Renata are human pharmaceuticals and animal health products. In Bangladesh, it is the 4th largest pharmaceutical company and the market leader in animal health products.

The company has ten manufacturing facilities at Dhaka’s Mirpur, Gazipur’s Rajendrapur, and Mymensingh’s Bhaluka.