Sigma back in the black
March 22, 2012
SIGMA Pharmaceuticals this
morning released its full year
results for the year to 31 Jan, with a
$49m profit - a major turnaround
from last year’s $235m loss which
followed the dramatic writedown of
the value of its generics business.
The company attributed the
performance to gains in market
share and improved working capital.
Overall revenue dipped 2.1% to
$2.91 billion due to the impact of
PBS reform and the Pfizer direct
distribution system, “however on a
like-for-like it was up 10 per cent
due to PBS growth and increased
market share,” Sigma said.
CEO and MD Mark Hooper said
Sigma had delivered on its promise
of sustainable improvement,
rewarding shareholders with a total
return of over 70% in the last year.
The company will pay a fully
franked 2c per share final dividend.
The results presentation
confirmed that extended trade
credit arrangements are no longer
offered to customers, with cash
flow set to improve in 2012/13
from arrangements from customers
to repay previous extended credit
over a 12-18 month period.
“Sigma continues to build an
increasingly more efficient business
that will manage market
competitiveness into next year,”
Hooper said.
He added that while the major
PBS reforms are expected to
dampen sales, “we will continue to
respond through cost reduction
measures and the renegotiation of
customer terms to negate the
impact on Sigma’s business”.
Hooper flagged expansion of the
company’s retail operations, with
“an exciting new strategy to
support our brands and put the
customer and pharmacist at the
centre of everything we do”.
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