Pharmaceuticals listed on SGX

Singapore Exchange (SGX) lists five companies that are focused in the pharmaceuticals industry. Their products range from common and bioengineered drugs to traditional Chinese medicines and over-the-counter remedies like Tiger Balm.

The three largest companies, with market capitalisations ranging from S$1.6 billion to S$320 million averaged a 5.7% decline in August, bringing their averaged year-to-date gain to 28.2%.

The five companies, and another company related to the Pharmaceutical industry, Zagro Asia, (involved in the manufacture and distribution of animal health products), are detailed in the table below. Together, these six companies have averaged a 3.8% decline in August as of yesterday’s close, bringing the averaged year-to-date gain to 37.2%.  

Source: Bloomberg (data as of 28 August 2013), SGX My Gateway

Of the six companies tabled above, the largest capitalised stock is Tianjin Zhongxin Pharmaceutical Group Corporation, which is listed both on SGX and in China. The group listed on SGX in 1997 and is traded in US dollars. Tianjin Zhongxin Pharmaceutical makes a wide range of products including patented Chinese drugs, medicinal drinks and raw materials, biotechnology medicine, and health products.

Year-to-date, Tianjin Zhongxin Pharmaceutical has gained 38.6% in US dollar terms or 44.8% in Singapore dollar terms. This is because an investor who bought the stock in US dollars at the end of 2012 would have benefited not only from the upward move in the stock price but also from the appreciation of the US dollar against the Singapore dollar.

The second largest pharmaceutical company, Haw Par Corporation, listed on SGX in 1969 and is best known for its household remedy, Tiger Balm. Haw Par’s healthcare products accounted for 66% of its revenue in the 2012 Financial Year, up from 61% in 2011.  Haw Par’s other business streams involve leisure parks, local and regional commercial and industrial properties, and a strategic long-term investing portfolio.

Eu Yan Sang International, which was listed on SGX in 2000, is a global healthcare and wellness company focused on traditional Chinese medicine. The company manufactures and retails traditional Chinese medicine and herbs in Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, and Singapore and operates clinics in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. It opened the first shop in 1879,  and as of June 2013, had 299 outlets and 31 clinics in the Asia-Pacific region, including 50 outlets and 26 clinics in Singapore.

Please note that China Animal Healthcare, which was formerly included in this group, was voluntarily delisted on SGX pursuant to a selective capital reduction effective today. This has brought the number of constituents of the FTSE ST Health Care Index from five to four. The pharmaceutical connection of China Animal Healthcare was through its manufacture, sale, and distribution of animal drugs.

Another company involved in the manufacture and distribution of animal health products (in addition to public health products and crop care) is Zagro Asia. Zagro Asia derived 44% of its 2012 Financial Year revenue from Animal Health products with the majority 54% coming from crop care and 2% from the distribution of generic pharmaceutical raw materials. Zagro Asia is included in the table above.

There are other companies listed on SGX that report smaller revenue proportions from pharmaceuticals. Etika Holdings [5FR] reported 5.6% of its 2012 Financial Year revenue was derived from nutritional products and GKE Corporation [595] reported 2.8% of its 2012 revenue was derived from Micro biotech segment.