Abu Dhabi-listed Julphar steps up facilities spending

Julphar reported flat net profit in the second quarter as the Abu Dhabi-listed drug maker stepped up its investments in plants and equipment.

A worker at the Julphar manufacturing facility in Ras Al Khaimah watches over production of Dialon tablets. Jeff Topping / The National

Julphar reported nearly flat net profit in the second quarter as the Abu Dhabi-listed drug maker stepped up its investments in plants and equipment, the company said.

Net profit in the three months to June 30 reached Dh54.8 million, up from Dh54.3m a year earlier, Julphar said in a statement. It made investments of Dh50.5m in property, plant and equipment during the first half, up from Dh5.4m in the year-­earlier period.

Julphar could not be reached for comments on its results.

The manufacturer of gen­eric medicines reported a fall in total comprehensive income to Dh53m in the second quarter, down by 10.2 per cent from Dh59m during the same period last year.

Its second-quarter reported sales of Dh389.6m are up by 4.2 per cent from Dh373.7m a year ago.

During the second quarter, Julphar took Dh309m in loans for working capital requirements.

Julphar has a 50.5 per cent stake in the Bangladesh-based company RAK Pharmaceuticals, previously owned by tile and sanitaryware manufacturer RAK Ceramics.

It opened its 12th factory in the UAE in Jebel Ali in 2013. It has another manufacturing facil­ity in Ethiopia and is building a ­factory in Jeddah with the diversified Saudi company the ­Cigalah Group.

In a country where pharmaceutical products are domi­nated by branded medicines manufactured by global com­panies, runaway medical costs are encouraging the Government to step up local manufacturing.

Last month, the Dubai Government announced local manufacturing of pharma products would be a key part of its industrial strategy. In the first phase, the focus would be on the manufacturing of cosmeceuticals, or cosmetics with medicinal properties, particularly halal cosmeceuticals.

In 2019, the UAE’s pharmaceutical expenditure is expected to reach Dh13.97 billion, growing at an average of 8 per cent annually from a rate of Dh10.32bn per annum last year, according to a report in February from research company BMI.

There are 16 pharmaceutical manufacturing plants in the UAE and that is expected to reach 34 in the next five years, Amin Al Amiri, the assistant undersecretary of Public Health Policy and Licensing at the Ministry of Health, said in February.

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