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Kurs & Likviditet
Beskrivning
| Land | Sverige |
|---|---|
| Lista | Spotlight |
| Sektor | Hälsovård |
| Industri | Läkemedel & Handel |
A quarter characterized by solid sales growth, partly due to Covid tests
- The Group's sales during the first quarter amounted to SEK 37.3 (99.5) million. Adjusted for non-recurring sales, sales amounted to SEK 32.3 (22.5) million, an increase of 44%.
- Gross profit amounted to SEK 16.0 (22.4) million for the quarter, an increase of 28.3%.
- Operating profit for the quarter amounted to SEK 3 (11.6) million.
- Earnings per share were SEK 0:09 (0:39) for the quarter.
- Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK -15.4 (54.5) million for the quarter.·Cash and cash equivalents were SEK 17.8 (64.8) million at the end of the quarter.
CEO's comments
The first quarter of 2021/22 was another stable growth quarter for EQL Pharma in terms of sales. Adjusted for non-recurring sales, the Group's sales amounted to SEK 32.3 (22.4) million, an increase of 44%. The operating profit for the quarter was SEK 3.0 (11.6) million, where the 11.6 million figure includes extensive PPE from 2020.
During the quarter, EQL was appointed as Nordic representative for Qilu Pharmaceuticals, a leading Asian pharmaceutical company with eight production facilities, more than 15,000 employees and over 200 products in its range. Gefitinib Qilu, is the first of seven drugs currently, where EQL will act as an agent for Qilu in the Nordic region. As an agent, EQL buys, stocks and sells medicines in Qilus' name in the Nordic region. Registration of the medicines, on the other hand, is done by Qilu and they own all the rights and have all obligations as MA holder versus the medical authorities. The agent model has advantages because the cost of product development is zero but also disadvantages such as a lower average margin.
During the quarter, the Swedish Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Agency decided that Mellozzan (melatonin) tablets 0.5 mg, 1 mg, 2 mg, 3 mg, 4 mg, 5 mg should be reimbursed. This is a crucial step in building the market for Mellozzan. During the quarter, we launched Europe's first CE-marked SARS-CoV-2 self-test on the Swedish market. The test can now be purchased at Apoteket Hjärtat, Kronans Apotek and other leading retailers in Sweden.
In July, Emanuel Eriksson took over as new CFO. Emanuel comes with a Master's degree in economics with a focus on Technology Management and has a background from banking as a company manager and acquisition financing (M&A).
During the quarter, EQL Pharma decided to postpone the announced list change from Spotlight Next to Nasdaq Stockholm's main market. The exact date of the change is not set, but it will probably not take place within the next 18 months. The background is briefly that EQL has prioritized growth, and a list change would take resources that was needed to build EQL's rapid growth, especially during the pandemic.
As of this report, the company will apply IFRS accounting principles, which can be seen as an adaptation to a more flexible platform to be able to grow the company but also to be able to change stock listing when that becomes a priority for us. It is our assessment that IFRS will only lead to minor changes in our income statement.
If we sum up the quarter, it is a characteristic quarter, with a lot of activity to expand our pipeline of products, launch new products and continue our preparations to broaden our geographic footprint outside the Nordic region.