Searle Company Limited plans to spin-off SPL

KARACHI: Searle Company Limited, the only pharmaceutical company to be listed on Forbes Asia Best Under A Billion 2020, will spin-off its wholly-owned subsidiary Searle Pakistan Limited (SPL) through an initial public offering (IPO) of 349 million ordinary shares, a bourse filing said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Telecard Limited announced to spin-off 25 per cent shares in its subsidiary through IPO. The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has seen a streak of IPOs during the last fiscal year and the trend is continuing due to ample liquidity and higher valuations.

“Searle Pakistan Limited may be listed on [the] PSX by way of initial public offering at the strike price to be determined in accordance with the Public Offering Regulations, 2017,” the company said.

Searle Company posted a net profit of Rs1.7 billion, translating into the earnings per share of Rs1.7 during the nine months ended March 31, 2021.

“Searle is poised to grow and increase its market share among its competitors and maintain its organic and inorganic growth, in a relatively turbulent regulatory environment. While also focusing on its product demand in [the] international market, coupled with increased healthcare spending trend after [the] Covid-19, which will translate into greater revenues for the industry,” the company mentioned in its last financial report.

Searle is focusing on enhancing the share of specialty generic branded portfolios and targeting differentiated products.

Searle has an organic pipeline of over 200 products in different stages of the regulatory approval process and has a diversified drug portfolio and strong gross profit margins.

The Covid-19 has harnessed the integration of the pharmaceutical sector to the sustenance of the society, at large, and the industry is set to reap the benefits from changing consumer perspectives.

The industry, especially the rightly placed institutions are taking advantage of branding and extra revenue streams. The temporary suspension of outdoor medical facilities, including private clinics was a challenge, though.

With the global health care spending expected to rise at an accelerated growth rate, it will likely present many opportunities for the sector.

While there will be uncertainties, the stakeholders can navigate them by factoring in the historic and current drivers of change when strategising for 2020 and beyond.

There are more than 750 companies operating in the sector, driven by new molecule introductions and supported by underlying demographic trends of increasing affordability, rising population, infrastructure investment, technological advancements, evolving care models, higher life expectancy and increased incidence of chronic diseases, as well as new healthcare risks introduced during the pandemic.

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