Kampala, Uganda — The Kampala-based drug manufacturer, Cipla Quality Chemical Industries Ltd, has recorded a Shs36bn loss for the financial year 2019/20 compared to a profit of Shs7bn recorded in the previous year.
According to the financial results released on June12, the company's impairment allowance on the financial assets increased by Shs3bn to Shs 32billion due to delayed payment for drugs supplied to the Zambian government.
The company's gross profit reduced from Shs53.48bn to Shs 36.94bn during the same period under review due to change in product mix in the new orders received after suspension of sales to Zambia and increase in orders from international health organizations and increased competition in some of the product ranges, which in turn, placed pressure on pricing to remain competitive.
The drug company also received a renewal of its World Health Organization Good Manufacturing Practices (WHO GMP) qualification for a further three years.
It started operations in 2005 as a joint venture between Quality Chemical Limited (QCL), a Ugandan company dealing in the importation and distribution of pharmaceutical drugs, and Cipla Ltd, a leading Indian pharmaceutical company specialising in manufacturing anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) and Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs) to combat HIV/Aids and malaria respectively.