KUALA LUMPUR (June 1): Pharmaniaga Bhd saw a correction in its share price in the first half of the day’s trading session, after the counter hit limit up yesterday amid the group’s proposal to supply to the private sector coupled with the worsening Covid-19 situation in Malaysia.
The counter gapped up, opening at RM7 — 22.8% or RM1.30 higher than its closing yesterday — before hitting an intra-morning high of RM7.25.
However, the upward trend was capped by profit-taking. At 12.30pm, the counter fell 60 sen or 9.1% to RM5.97 at noon market break, after touching a low of RM5.70, with a total of 19.65 million shares traded.
Its market capitalisation was RM1.6 billion.
Yesterday, the authorised supplier of the Sinovac vaccine recorded a 30% gain to touch a four-month closing high of RM6.57 after it said it was ready to supply vaccines to the private sector once it fulfils its obligation of 12 million doses to the government by July this year.
The group said it has ordered another 10 million doses from Sinovac, on top of the 14 million doses to be filled by Pharmaniaga.
In a note yesterday, Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd (HLIB) raised its target price on the counter to RM5.52, from RM5.27 previously, after rolling over its valuation year to FY22.
However, analyst Gan Huan Wen noted that the remaining two million doses — of the total 14 million doses — which is intended for sale to the private sector have yet to be approved by the government.
While Pharmaniaga’s core net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21) exceeded HLIB’s expectations, making up 36.3% of its full-year forecast, Gan maintained forecasts as weaker earnings are expected in 2QFY21 due to lower sales volume expected due to the implementation of Movement Control Order 3.0.
