At a glance, it looks like Ferozsons Laboratories Limited (PSX: FEROZ) is in deep trouble; for the nine months ended FY17, the Lahore-based pharmaceutical company’s top line is down by 63 percent year-on-year, while the bottom line is now one-fourth of what it was in 9MFY16.
Last year (FY16) was arguably the best year in Ferozsons’ history, as it started marketing Gilead Sciences’ breakthrough Hepatitis C (HCV) drug Sovaldi (Sofosbvir) in Pakistan. As per the previous Director’s report, the rapid drop in the company’s top line has been due to a substantial decline in sales of Sovaldi. This is attributable to the launch of several generic versions of the drug in Pakistan.
But keeping aside the one-time gains from Sovaldi last year, as per the half-yearly report, sales outside the Gilead portfolio had substantially increased during FY17 – up 23 percent YoY as of 1HFY17. This means that the company is doing well fundamentally.
Going forward, Ferozsons still has a lot to offer. The company’s Gilead-licensed generic brand of Sofosbvir, ‘Savera,’ showed healthy sales growth in second quarter, while it also developed another HCV treatment called Epclusa. Moreover, Ferozsons entered into an agreement with GE Health Care FZE regarding diagnostic equipment at the start of the fiscal year.
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