Avalon Pharma turns to profit of SAR 9.4M in Q1 2024

Middle East Pharmaceutical Industries Co. (Avalon Pharma) reported a net profit of SAR 9.4 million in the first quarter of 2024, against a loss of SAR 500,000 in Q1 2023.

The positive performance was driven by a substantial increase in gross profit of 37.70% to SAR 46.46 million, due to the remarkable sales growth. This increase in gross profit resulted in an overall gross profit margin increase of 0.2% compared to the previous year.

The gross profit rise was pushed by strong sales growth of 37.28%, or SAR 20.59 million, primarily driven by strong sales performance in all distribution channels, with the retail segment contributing SAR 12.42 million, the export segment contributing SAR 5.38 million, and the public segment contributing SAR 2.79 million to this growth.

There was a more moderate increase of 9.39% in operating expenses, reaching SAR 34.12 million, mainly due to the rise in expenses related to salaries and related benefits, reflecting the company’s ongoing commitment to investment in growth.

This led to a substantial rise in EBITDA by 187.26% to SAR 15.64 million, for a margin of 20.62% versus 9.86% in Q1 2023, demonstrating strong operational leverage and improved efficiency.

Moreover, financing costs were lower compared to the previous year, attributed to a significant reduction in short-term loans.

Sequentially, the company’s profit fell 79.4% from SAR 45.4 million in Q4 2023.

Shareholders’ equity, no minority interest, reached SAR 315.5 million as of March 31, 2024, up from SAR 270.07 million a year earlier.

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