Pharmacy Daily | Blackmores Asian boost

BLACKMORES reported a strong net profit after tax of $70 million, up 19% for the full year vs prior full year with a significant leg up from the Asian business, despite some supply constraints.

China sales were up 22% to $143 million, which the company attributed to its heavy brand investment in the second half and its new partnership agreement signed with Alibaba (PD 18 Sep 2017) and predicted as early as Jan last year by Credit Suisse financial analyst Ben Levin (PD 16 Jan 2017).

Other Asian countries contributed at a similarly high rate ranging up to 91% for Korea, with Indonesia another success story up 77% on the prior year.

Blackmores ceo Richard Henfrey (pictured) also unveiled the $9 million acquisition of the pharmacy-only Impromy weight management program that was co-developed by Probiotec and the CSIRO.

Henfrey was very upbeat with a strong historical success story and claims of being "in the right category" considering consumer megatrends, "with the best brands" most trusted in Australia and now through many parts of Asia and "a strong business".

Henfrey emphasised the company's healthy balance sheet, the nicely positioned supply traceability and the control that the company's vertical integration brought, especially with the strategic acquisition announced in April of 100% of the Catalent Australia tablet and soft-gel capsule manufacturing facility in Braeside, Vic, for $43.2 million (PD 25 Apr).

The completion of this deal is set for Oct 2019.

The company reported a final dividend of 155 cents per share, taking the total dividends for the year to $3.05 fully franked.

Henfrey envisions Blackmores' investment in China and other Asian markets to increase, and not just online, with the end result being continued sales and growth in the coming year.

The market reacted positively to Blackmores' results, with the stock up 6.4% yesterday to $154.60.