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Acme to raise capital to start three projects

Gazi Towhid Ahmed
The Acme Laboratories, one of the leading medicine manufacturers in Bangladesh, plans to set up three new projects as part of its expansion plan to tap the growing local and global pharma market.
The company will issue five crore shares to institutional and individual investors to raise funds for the projects, said Mizanur Rahman Sinha, managing director of Acme.
The projects will develop steroid and hormone; oncology; ayurvedic, modern herbal and nutraceuticals at the company's Savar factory, Sinha said.
Production of oncology products will begin at the end of 2016, he said.
Acme will organise a roadshow on Monday at the capital's Sonargaon Hotel to give institutional investors a chance to participate in the bidding to determine the indicative prices of each share.
The expansion will help increase the company's revenue and profit, Sinha said at a press conference on the factory premises yesterday.
Acme's net profit rose 76.76 percent to Tk 89.47 crore for the year ended June, compared to the same period last year.
The company’s revenue stood at Tk 1,021 core, which is 15 percent higher than the previous year.
Acme will follow the book-building method for the issue, which will be managed by 1CB Capital Management.
Acme is the third firm to use the bookbuilding system after the stockmarket regulator modified the pricing rules following the market crash of 2011.
Book-building is a process through which an issuer attempts to determine the price to offer for its security by gauging the demand from institutional investors.
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"We have added some new products, such as: liquid in hard gelatin product, sachet products, LVP saline and cephalosporin products," Sinha said.
The market share of the company was 8 percent last year when it exported 70 products worth Tk 53 crore to 20 countries.
Acme is now taking steps to start exporting medicine to Europe and Latin America and Africa, hesaid.
Since its inception in 1954, the company has been working relentlessly with a vision to ensure "health, vigour and happiness for all" and is on a perpetual quest for excellence, he said.
Acme has five kinds of global technologies in its factories, Sinha said.
The net asset value per share of the company is Tk 66.16 and earnings per share Tk 5.65. The company's total asset value stood at aroundTk 2,300 crore last year.
The company declared 30 percent cash dividend last year and 20 percent interim cash dividend for the current year.
Pharma exports rose 15.65 percent year-on-year to Tk 553.3 crore in 2013-14 because of the growing global demand, high quality
products and competitive prices.
The pharma market is currently valued at Tk 12,000 crore, which contributes 1 percent to the country's gross domestic product.
"Acme has steady growth and it has long success story. The medicine manufacture is one of the firms which has huge asset base," said Md Fayekuzzaman, managing director of Investment Corporation of Bangladesh.
With its strong export potential, the pharma sector can create new windows of opportunity after the garment sector in Bangladesh, Fayekuzzaman said.
The company, which practises the best corporate governance, has strong research and development department also, he said.
“We are working to make a list of good companies for the sake of the investors."
The sector is now one of the fastest growing sectors in the country, with its average growth rate coming to 17.2 percent over the last five years and 13.1 percent over the last decade.
Acme expects the pharma market size to exceedTk 15,000 crore by 2015.