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Herbal drug maker lists on exchange
A pharmaceutical company and a steel-pipe producer were listed on the HCM City Stock Exchange yesterday, taking the total number of listed companies to 162.
Drug maker OPC, which has a charter capital of almost VND82 billion (US$5 million), makes Vietnamese herbal drugs using modern industrial production lines.
It is the first traditional drug maker in the country to receive GMP-WHO (good manufacturing practices – World Health Organisation) certificates. In the the first nine months of this year, OPC achieved a turnover of VND164.5 billion, up 28 per cent year-on-year.
Its gross profit of VND24 billion was, however, equal to just 80 per cent of the 2007 figure.
It is expected to pay a dividend of 20 per cent this year.
The company’s chairman, Le Minh Diem, said a new factory was planned to be built in Binh Duong Province at a cost of VND150 billion. OPC already has a methanol-free medical alcohol plant in the area with an annual capacity of 3 million litres.
The other firm, Huu Lien A Chau Joint Stock Company (HLA), has a charter capital of VND190 billion.
According to its general director, Tran Tuan Nghiep, its products go mainly to the central and southern Vietnamese markets.
The company also exports to Australia, Cambodia, and Singapore.
Exports represented 11 per cent of its last year’s turnover.
HLA targets a profit of VND52 billion on turnover of VND1.4 trillion this year, up from last year’s VND34 billion and VND1.029 trillion.
It is likely to pay an annual dividend of 15 per cent until 2010.
Nghiep said the company plans to expand to the north, and export to new markets in Southeast Asia, North America and Africa.
Vietnamnet
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