Sino Biopharmaceutical first quarter profit up 14.6% to HK$103.28mn

The medicine producer inaugurated new exclusive patch product in China to propel business growth.

Leading modernised Chinese medicine producer, Sino Biopharmaceutical Limited (“Sino Biopharmaceutical”) on Thursday announced its unaudited first quarterly results for the three months ended 31 March 2011(“FY2011 First Quarter Results”).

For the three months ended 31 March 2011, the Group recorded turnover of HK$1,237,653,000, an increase of approximately 36.3%, comparing with same period last year. Profit attributable to the Group rose by approximately 14.6% from the previous period to approximately HK$103,281,000. Basic earnings per share increased by approximately 5.6% to 2.08HK cents. The Group has also maintained a strong financial position with cash and bank balances reaching approximately HK$2,085,035,000 (31 March 2010: HK$2,361,821,000).

The Board of Directors has declared a first quarter dividend of 2HK cents per share (2010 Q1: 2 HK cents).

Mr Tse Ping, Chairman of Sino Biopharmaceutical, said, “During the period under review, facing the pressure of inflation and the price adjustment in pharmaceutical products by the PRC Government, apart from continuing to strengthen quality control in production to ensure product safety, the Group has undertaken measures to enhance all-round management to smoothly implement efficiencies to increase sales volume and revenue. These enabled the Group to maintain product profitability and leadership in selected therapeutic pharmaceutical areas. In a key initiative, Beijing Tide, a jointly-controlled entity of the Group, has introduced a proprietary patch product, Flurbiprofen cataplasms. Flurbiprofen cataplasms is believed to enhance benefits such as fast and highly efficacious pain relief and ease of use with minimal side effects, which will make it the Group’s new growth driver”.

Outlook
Mr Tse concluded, “The Group believes that the PRC Government will strive to allow more people to enjoy the medical and healthcare services through different policies and measures which will create long term favourable conditions for the pharmaceutical industry. The Group also expects that the accelerating aging population issue will become an important demand driver for medicines to treat chronic illnesses. The underlying steady growth of the economy will also facilitate the continuous stable development of the pharmaceutical industry in the PRC.Meanwhile, the launch of various policies and regulatory measures targeting the pharmaceutical industry at the national level also facilitates the consolidation of the industry through mergers and acquisitions as well as restructuring. These trends ensure the continuous healthy development of the PRC’s pharmaceutical industry in future. In this regard, the Group intends to actively seek opportunities for mergers and acquisitions and restructuring in order to ensure its robust growth.”