Photo by Patrick Goh/The Edge

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 23): Pharmaniaga Bhd (KL:PHARMA) has announced the resignation of PricewaterhouseCoopers PLT (PwC) as its external auditor.

In a bourse filing, Pharmaniaga said it had received a notice dated Sept 20, 2024 from PWC of its resignation voluntarily, pursuant to Section 281 of the Companies Act 2016.

“The board noted that PwC has served as the external auditor for the company for the past 19 years, and the board agrees that the resignation and the subsequent appointment of new external auditors would allow a fresh perspective for the board and the company. The change is also intended to align with the group-wide approach to streamline its external auditors,” said Pharmaniaga.

In the same filing, Pharmaniaga said its board had approved the appointment of Ernst & Young as its auditor for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2024 (FY2024).

For the first half ended June 30, 2024 (1HFY2024), Pharmaniaga posted a 4.3% increase in revenue to RM1.8 billion from RM1.73 billion a year ago. During the same period, net profit jumped more than five times to RM28.44 million or 1.97 sen per share, from RM4.61 million or 0.35 sen per share, thanks to cost optimisation measures.

These include the cessation of non-core and non-performing businesses, as well as lower advertising and promotional expenses.

Pharmaniaga managing director Zulkifli Jafar recently said that it expects to secure the approval of Bursa Malaysia for its regularisation plan by next month, which is crucial to lift the company out of its Practice Note 17 (PN17) status.

Pharmaniaga’s share price closed down half a sen or 1.3% at 38.5 sen on Monday, bringing the group a market capitalisation of RM555 million.