KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 4): Pharmaniaga Bhd's wholly-owned unit, Pharmaniaga Logistic Sdn Bhd (PLSB), has entered into a concession agreement with the Ministry of Health (MOH) for the medical supply logistics services.

In a bourse filing, the Practice Note 17 (PN17) company said that the agreement will take effect retrospectively from July 1, 2023, and remain in force for a period of seven years until June 30, 2030, subject to earlier termination.

Under the agreement, PLSB is granted the rights and authorities to undertake the procurement, storage, supply, and delivery of medical products to public sector customers.

PLSB is also authorised to carry out Pharmacy Information System services and construct or acquire four new warehouses for the storage of medical products.

However, the value of the contract was not disclosed, as the pharmaceutical company stated that the information provided under the agreement needs to be kept fully confidential.

PLSB was initially granted the concession agreement by the MOH in 1994 to supply public health facilities with medicines and medical supplies for 25 years. The contract was then given a five-year extension for an interim period of 25 months, from Dec 1, 2019, to Dec 31, 2021. Another six-month extension was granted from end-December 2022 until end-June 2023.

Then on July 12, 2023, Pharmaniaga announced that the MOH had issued a letter to PLSB for the new seven-year concession agreement to provide medical supply logistics services to the ministry. With the letter, PLSB had continued to provide its services to the MOH based on agreed salient terms, while the terms of the new agreement were being finalised.

Pharmaniaga is 52%-owned by the delisted Boustead Holdings Bhd, which is 97.63%-owned by Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) following its privatisation of the group. LTAT also has a direct 8.6% interest in Pharmaniaga.

Pharmaniaga has been classified as a PN17 company since February 2023 after falling into losses following a massive half-billion-ringgit impairment.

The group reported a net loss of RM49.34 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023), more than double the RM13.99 million quarterly net loss it logged a year earlier, while quarterly revenue was marginally lower at RM885.49 million, against RM894.94 million last year.

Shares in Pharmaniaga traded half a sen or 1.33% lower at 37 sen at the noon break on Thursday, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM533.25 million.