Jacobson Pharma Announces FY2019 Interim Results

Profit from Operations Leapt by 40.7% to HK$158.6 Million

Declares Interim Dividend of HK1.5 cents per share

Growth Strategies to Tap Innovative Pharma Market and�Expand Regional Presence

 

HONG KONG, CHINA - Media
OutReach - 21
November 2018 – Jacobson Pharma
Corporation Limited (“Jacobson Pharma” or the “Company”; Stock Code: 2633),
a leading company engaged in the research, development, production, marketing
and sale of generic drugs and proprietary medicines, today announced its
unaudited interim results of the Company and its subsidiaries (collectively the
“Group”) for the six months ended 30 September 2018 (the “reporting
period”).

 

During the reporting
period, the Group’s revenue and gross profit increased
by 9.9% and 14.3% to HK$816.3 million (1H2017: HK$743.0 million) and HK$318.7
million (1H2017: HK$278.9 million) respectively. Profit from operations leapt
by 40.7% to HK$158.6 million (1H2017: HK$112.7
million).
Profit attributable to the shareholders of the Company rose by 21.4% to HK$97.5 million (1H2017: HK$80.3
million). Basic and diluted earnings per share were HK5.28 cents (1H2017: HK4.42 cents).

 

The Group
maintains a healthy financial position with cash and cash equivalents of HK$791.4
million at the end of the reporting
period. The Board has declared payment of an
interim dividend for the six months ended 30 September 2018 of HK1.5 cents per share
(1H2017: HK0.9 cent).

 

Mr. Derek Sum, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of
Jacobson Pharma, said, “We take a disciplined and effective approach on R&D investment to the ends of
helping us enhance our product portfolio and broaden our geographical reach in
Asia. At the same time we continue to pursue
merger & acquisition opportunities in a sensible manner, aiming to build long term strategic values upon
our existing business portfolio.“ 

 

Sustained Growth in Generic
Drugs

With an
expanded product portfolio,
a broadened customer base and
enhanced production capacity delivering a steady stock supply in both the Private and Public
Sectors, the Group’s generic drugs business achieved revenue of approximately HK$595.3 million, up by 9.8% compared with the last
corresponding period, with a growth of 10.4% to HK$395.2 million from the Private Sector and 8.7% to
HK$200.1 million from
the Public Sector during the reporting
period. Sub-sector markets such as those for
cardiovascular and central nervous system treatments also recorded strong growth, attributable to the
increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and the aging population.

 

In addition, the Group enjoys a strong market
position in a number of the high performing therapeutic categories. Supplementing
its R&D pipeline and strengthening its leadership in specific categories,
the Group has actively collaborated with pharmaceutical suppliers in Spain,
Korea, and Taiwan for introducing new and specialized products including
sterile injections, specialty drugs, and biosimilars alike, to cater for the
emerging demand for healthcare services and innovative medicines in Asia. Currently,
46 such products have been secured and are undergoing different stages of new
product registration in Hong Kong.

 

Building Strong Brands for Proprietary
Medicines

Building strong brands has continued to be a
major strategy of for the Group for realising growth in its
proprietary medicines business. During the reporting period, the total revenue
from the proprietary medicines segment of the Group amounted to HK$110.7 million. Despite the sluggish market sentiments during the period, Po Chai Pills (???) was able to strengthen its leadership
position in the gastro-intestinal Chinese medicine category at the Group’s persistent
and assiduous marketing and brand building efforts, seeing a healthy organic
growth of 7.0% in sales revenue in the local market as compared with the same period of last year. Overseas sales of Po Chai
Pills in markets like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand also registered an
encouraging growth of 34.8% during the reporting period.

 

Medicated oils business of the Group also
boasted remarkable growth during the period. As a result of strengthened
distribution management and advertising drive, the sales revenue of Flying
Eagle Woodlok Oil (?????) and Shiling Oil (???) recorded robust
double digit growth of 91.9% and 67.6% respectively over the same period of
last year.

Product Development and Innovative Diagnostic Technology

Adopting a disciplined and
effective management
approach,
the Group continued to
make good R&D progress boosting constantly its product development
pipeline. A total of 11 products were registered during the reporting period and are ready for launch and
supply in Hong Kong. As at the end of September 2018, there are 102 products in the Group’s
R&D pipeline.

 

Jacobson
Pharma also made good progress on a number of collaboration projects
with various R&D institutions, including finalising
an IP transfer
and licensing agreement on
collaborative development of an innovative, non-invasive, accurate diagnostic
test of prostate cancer. This innovative
home-based and non-invasive screening device for prostate cancer will target the global market with
commercial roll-out starting in Hong Kong and Macau in 2019.

 

Mr. Sum remarked, “Just about two months ago we celebrated the 20th
anniversary of Jacobson Pharma, and we talked about how the scientific and
technological advances would impact
dynamics of the healthcare market, and how one should seize opportunities and
take lead in the burgeoning field of technologies. We see a market full of
opportunities, thanks to the breakthroughs
and advances in science, most notably in genomics and also some exciting new frontiers
such as clinical diagnostics and biologics.

 

“Looking
ahead, we will continue to boost the strengths of the Group to forge a platform
for future success, for our core businesses to create sustainable strategic
values and drive the Group’s overall performance. R&D output and in-licensing
capabilities are therefore deemed as growth drivers of the Group in the next
few years. The
management shall remain agile and apply its best foresight to seize
opportunities bred by scientific advances in the industry.”

 

About Jacobson Pharma Corporation Limited (????????????Stock Code: 2633)

Jacobson Pharma is the largest generic drug company in
Hong Kong with over 30% share of the total generic drug market for each year
since 2012. The Group’s proprietary medicines, notably being Po Chai Pills (?????), Tong Tai Chung
Woodlok Oil (????????), Ho Chai Kung Tji Thung San
(??????????), Contractubex Scar Gel
(???????) Doan’s Ointment (???????), Flying Eagle Wood Lok
Medicated Oil (???????), Saplingtan (?????), Shiling Oil (?????) and Col-gan Tablet (?????) have been widely
recognised by the market. Jacobson Pharma has been a constituent
stock of MSCI Hong Kong Micro Cap Index since 1 June 2017. For more details
about Jacobson Pharma, please visit the Group’s website: http://www.jacobsonpharma.com