Four directors to buy 9 lakh Square Pharma shares

Samuel S Chowdhury, Tapan Chowdhury, Anjan Chowdhury and Ratna Patra – directors of Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd – have announced to buy 2.25 lakh of the company shares each from the public market by 28 April.

"We believe this (the current market price) is not the fair price for the company shares and we have a strong confidence in the company's future," Tapan Chowdhury told The Business Standard. 

"We, the four siblings, try to do things together and that is why each announced to buy the same number of shares," said Tapan Chowdhury, who is also the managing director of the country's top drug manufacturer.

Following the announcement, Square Pharma shares closed 1.4% higher at Tk221.4 on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) on Thursday.

Stockbrokers said it gave the spiralling down stock market a hand as the major indices closed slightly higher than the intraday low, unlike the last three days.

Square Pharmaceuticals shares are trading at almost their historic low valuation in terms of price to earnings (PE) ratio, said equity analysts.

According to the DSE, the stock is selling 12.31 times higher than its latest annual earnings per share (EPS) while based on the half-yearly EPS, the ratio is 10.17.

Kenyan plant awaits prestigious inauguration

Following a pandemic disruption and a year of delay, Square's pharma plant in Kenya got fully ready later last year.

Square has already invested $20 million to build the facilities near Nairobi aiming for a stronger presence in the African drugs market and the Kenyan media reported that the investment might go up in phases.

Right now, the plant is going through trial productions and the company is waiting for a fine morning in May-June when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (online) and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (in person) would make a common time to inaugurate the commercial production of the plant, according to Tapan Chowdhury.

At a similar timeline, the company is going to launch its new local unit in Pabna, he added.