Pharma listed cos: FY26 profits surge 28pc to Rs42.2bn YoY

Business Recorder reported that profits of Pakistan's listed pharmaceutical sector rose 28 percent in FY26 to Rs42.2 billion, helped by higher prices and lower finance costs. Finance costs dropped 42 percent over the year to Rs3.6 billion, while net sales rose 10 percent to Rs377.9 billion, according to Topline Research.

Fourth-quarter earnings, however, fell 2 percent year-on-year and 26 percent quarter-on-quarter, mainly because The Searle Company (SEARL) recorded a loss in the period. Excluding Searle, quarterly profit rose 6 percent year-on-year but slipped 4 percent sequentially to Rs9.3 billion, and full-year profit without Searle grew 22 percent.

The sector's gross margin touched a record 42.8 percent in FY26, compared with 38.9 percent in FY25, with Topline Research crediting higher prices. AGP posted the highest individual gross margin at 60.4 percent, ahead of Highnoon Laboratories at 56.1 percent. Abbott Laboratories accounted for 20 percent of sector sales, with GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan at 18 percent and Haleon Pakistan at 11 percent.