While he continues to develop his plan for the installation of a drug plant that includes the Covid-19 vaccines in the Buenos Aires town of Pilar, Richmond Laboratories projects a business plan that does not depend solely on the distribution of the Russian drug against the coronavirus.
The company led by the entrepreneur Marcelo Figueiras remains focused on industrial investment projects, completing the integration of the regional structure and favoring the launch of new products both in traditional therapies and in the incorporation of biosimilar products.
In this sense, it expects to grow in the exports of highly specialized products for the different subsidiaries based on a greater productive capacity in its own plants, as well as to continue with the approval of new registrations in the region.
Richmond’s sales growth strategy is based on new launches and on the continuity of the increase in exports that has already been verified in recent years, the expansion towards new technologies and the increase in production capacitywhich leads to a sustained increase in sales that has already been verified in recent years.
At least that’s how it appears from the report that Richmond sent to the National Securities Commission (CNV) to inform the economic results of the first quarter of this year.
In the document, the company states that “the growth achieved in a year of significant challenges for the Argentine economy and future prospects will allow it to continue consolidating in the different segments and markets in which it participates.”
Marcelo Figueiras’ strategy is based on new launches and the increase in exports
To the date, Through the Project VIDA Financial Trust, progress is made in the construction of the Biotechnology Model Plant, in the Pilar Industrial Park, which will allow the comprehensive production of more than 400 million vaccines per year and different biotechnological productsto attend not only this pandemic, but also future medical needs both in Argentina and in other Latin American countries.
“All these actions can only be carried out based on the effort and collaboration provided by each one of the people that make up the company,” adds the paper written by the board of directors of the laboratory that develops and produces quality medicines with added human value; operating in a dynamic and complex socio-economic context.
negative circumstances
According to the document sent to the CNV, for Richmond executives during the first quarter of this year, the economy continued to slow down, with high inflation, and increasing financing rates.
“These circumstances did not significantly affect the normal development of the productive tasks of the Laboratory during the quarter“, clarifies the report.
In this sense, the attributable consolidated balance recorded a profit of $75 million in the first three months of 2023, with a consolidated net result of $69 million.
In the case of net sales, they reached $4,516 million, while the same comparisons in 2022 were $4,992 million, with the gross margin for 2023 being 47%, while it was 50% in the comparison for 2022.
In Argentina, Richmond Laboratories is the representative of the Russian vaccine against Covid-19
For their part, sales volumes for the 2023 quarter remained at levels similar to those of 2022, while prices evolved below inflation.
In this context, the marketing expenses they had a decrease of 3% at a comparative level with the same quarter of the previous year and, on the other hand, administrative expenses decreased by a comparative 8%.
“As a consequence of the above, the ordinary operating result for the first quarter of 2023 was positive and amounted to $604 million, while the adjusted EBITDA for the same period represented 20% of sales when it had been 23% in the first quarter of 2023. 2022.
The balance sheet also reports the net financial results that totaled a loss of $354.6 millionwhile in the first quarter of 2022 it was $47.9 million.
The main variations respond to the financial results generated by assets, which this year were negative $59 million and in the first quarter of 2022, positive $871 million, mainly due to holding results from short-term investments held by the Financial Trust. “Life Project” that will be applied later to the construction of the biotechnology and vaccine plant.
delayed plant
For his part, The financial results generated by liabilities amounted to $1,427 million with a comparative increase of 11% and was due to the increase in the exchange difference due to the evolution of the exchange rates comparedwhile interest and loan commissions increased by a comparative 4%.
The Biotechnology Model Plant, in Pilar, will allow the comprehensive production of more than 400 million vaccines per year
For its part, the construction of the Biotechnology plant continues to advance, taking into account that the necessary equipment for the project has already been manufactured and is mostly located in the agreed destination port of Buenos Aires.
The delay in customs clearance forces us to redefine the date on which its assembly and start-up would be completed, which is estimated to be at the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the Richmond report clarifies that the lab “continues a profitable production policy with a balanced support of the expenses and regional expansion”.
In this context, total liabilities have decreased compared to last year, mainly due to the reduction of current trade debts by 8% and the fulfillment of payments and cancellation of loans, which as a whole -current and non-current- decreased by more than 4% comparatively.
The vaccine as a banner
In 2021, Richmond managed to seal a memorandum of understanding with the Management Company of Russian Direct Investment Fund, which represents the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology to obtain the manufacture of a vaccine against the virus.
To finance the project, the group went out to look for money abroad by creating a trust fund that will seek to raise about US$70 million.. But while it does so, it must face a complex local macro scenario, whose main variables have been highly volatile, both nationally and regionally, where it also operates through various controlled laboratories.
Based on this agreement, the laboratory’s board of directors approved the constitution of the Financial Trust “Project VIDA (Project and Immunization for Argentine Development), whose objective will be to finance the construction and operation of the biotechnology plant to produce vaccines locally.
