ShareHope Medicine Co Ltd (盛弘醫藥) yesterday said that its board has approved plans to acquire a local retail drug store chain from Hong Kong-headquartered Zuellig Pharma Holdings Pte Ltd in a move that would make the company one of Taiwan’s biggest pharmacy operators.
The company, a medical human resources and logistics service provider, said that it would acquire YesChain (躍獅連鎖藥局), a local drug store chain with 87 outlets, in a NT$170 million (US$5.68 million) acquisition.
Following the deal, ShareHope would control 104 drug stores, the Taoyuan-based company said in a statement.
ShareHope also plans to strengthen ties with Zuellig Pharma, a major regional medical supplier, it said, adding that it aims to combine the Hong Kong company’s bargaining power with its own cloud-based procurement platform to tap into Taiwan’s growing demand for medicine and healthcare products.
Zuellig Pharma operates in 16 Asian markets and is a leader in terms of logistics and information systems, and is a supplier to 400 hospitals and 20,000 clinics in Taiwan, ShareHope said, noting that YesChain’s annual revenue has been averaging about NT$800 million.
ShareHope chairman Yang Hong-ren (楊弘仁) said that the company wants to provide customized services to its customers by linking its patient information database and logistics systems to redefine its network of community pharmacies.
“We want to tap into rising demand for preventative care from Taiwan’s aging population,” Yang said.
There are about 7,800 pharmacies in Taiwan producing annual sales of about NT$120 billion, Yang said, adding that major drug store chains have only claimed 19 percent of the market, compared to 66 percent and 55 percent in the US and Japan respectively.
The company reported that its sales in the first four months rose 7.1 percent annually to NT$880 million.
Net income in the first quarter came to NT$13.75 million this year, down 56.67 percent annually, or earnings per share of NT$0.17, which the company attributed to higher costs from participating in bids for medical testing contracts.
The company’s shares yesterday closed 2.49 percent higher at NT$35 in Taipei trading. They have fallen 5.53 percent so far this year.
HORMUZ ISSUE: The US president said he expected crude prices to drop at the end of the war, which he called a ‘minor excursion’ that could continue ‘for a little while’ The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait started reducing oil production, as the near-closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz ripples through energy markets and affects global supply. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is “managing offshore production levels to address storage requirements,” the company said in a statement, without giving details. Kuwait Petroleum Corp said it was lowering production at its oil fields and refineries after “Iranian threats against safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.” The war in the Middle East has all but closed Hormuz, the narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the open seas,
Taiwan has enough crude oil reserves for more than 100 days and sufficient natural gas reserves for more than 11 days, both above the regulatory safety requirement, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, adding that the government would prioritize domestic price stability as conflicts in the Middle East continue. Overall, energy supply for this month is secure, and the government is continuing efforts to ensure sufficient supply for next month, Kung told reporters after meeting with representatives from business groups at the ministry in Taipei. The ministry has been holding daily cross-ministry meetings at the Executive Yuan to ensure
RATIONING: The proposal would give the Trump administration ample leverage to negotiate investments in the US as it decides how many chips to give each country US officials are debating a new regulatory framework for exporting artificial intelligence (AI) chips and are considering requiring foreign nations to invest in US AI data centers or security guarantees as a condition for granting exports of 200,000 chips or more, according to a document seen by Reuters. The rules are not yet final and could change. They would be the first attempt to regulate the flow of AI chips to US allies and partners since US President Donald Trump’s administration said it rescinded its predecessor’s so-called AI diffusion rules. Those rules sought to keep a significant amount of AI
Apple Inc increased iPhone production in India by about 53 percent last year and now makes a quarter of its marquee devices there, reflecting the US company’s efforts to avoid tariffs on China. The company assembled about 55 million iPhones in India last year, up from 36 million a year earlier, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named because the numbers aren’t public. Apple makes about 220 million to 230 million iPhones a year globally, with India’s share of the total increasing rapidly. Apple has accelerated its expansion in the world’s most populous country in recent years, bolstered
RSS