Tenth of Ramadan for Pharmaceutical Industries and Diagnostic Reagents (Rameda) Group, a leading pharmaceutical company, reported a 43% year-on-year increase in revenues to EGP 545.7m in the third quarter of 2023, driven by strong growth across all its business segments. The private sales segment contributed 55% of the revenue growth, followed by the export sales segment with 25% in the same period.
For the first nine months of 2023, Rameda’s revenues grew by 27% year-on-year to EGP 1.38bn, thanks to the solid performance of its top ten selling products in the private sales segment.
The Group’s gross profit rose by 36.3% year-on-year to EGP 265.1m, but its margin declined by 2.4% to 48.6% in the third quarter of 2023. This was due to the higher cost of raw materials as a result of inflationary pressures in the quarter.
For the first nine months of 2023, Rameda’s gross profit increased by 20.9% year-on-year to EGP 651.8m, but its margin dropped by 2.4%. This was attributed to the higher maintenance costs and impairment costs, which included a one-off charge of EGP 18.5m related to the COVID-19 antiviral product portfolio. The Group also faced a delay in repricing its products to reflect the cost increases.
Rameda’s EBITDA grew by 35.2% year-on-year to EGP 168.5m, but its margin contracted by 1.8% to 30.9% in the third quarter of 2023. This was due to the lower gross profit margin and the higher selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses in the quarter.
For the first nine months of 2023, Rameda’s EBITDA rose by 17.4% year-on-year to EGP 392.2m, but its margin decreased by 2.3%.
Rameda’s net income increased by 7.7% year-on-year to EGP 78m in the third quarter of 2023, but its margin shrank by 4.7% to 14.3%. This reflected the higher cost base and the significant increase in net interest costs to EGP 41.8m in the quarter.
For the first nine months of 2023, Rameda’s net income was flat at EGP 197m, but its margin reduced by four percentage points to 14.2%.
Amr Morsy, CEO of Rameda, commented: “We have achieved strong revenue growth in all our business segments in the past nine months, which was mainly driven by the strategic price increases across our product portfolio, the focus on key therapeutic areas, and the successful acquisition of new products. The price increases also helped us to maintain stable profitability amid the rising inflation in Egypt. We plan to continue our repricing strategy until the end of the year and beyond, as we still have some products that have not been fully repriced, which will provide us with a significant upside in the coming quarters.
“We have also seen the recovery of our antibiotic portfolio, which recorded sales of EGP 51m in the third quarter of 2023, compared to EGP 10m in the first half of 2023. We are optimistic about the continued recovery of this important segment and we hope that it will increase its contribution to the overall value of our portfolio.
Furthermore, we have optimized our pharma distributors network, reducing our exposure to risky distributors and enhancing our ability to maximize the value of our operations. This has paid off well and will continue to support our performance in the future. Meanwhile, we will remain focused on driving Rameda’s performance through strategic price increases, lucrative product acquisitions, and operational excellence.”
