Pharmaniaga Bhd told to come up with a business recovery plan, Parliament told

KUALA LUMPUR: Pharmaniaga Bhd, which is owned by the Defence Ministry's Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT), has been told to come up with a business recovery plan to ensure continuity, the Parliament heard.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said that what happened to Pharmaniaga, which saw the company’s largest ever quarterly net loss of RM664.39mil in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2022, was due to accounting issues.

"Pharmaniaga has been ordered to come up with a business plan, and I am following the development closely so that the company will be able to recover soon," he said in his winding up speech for his ministry for the Budget 2023 debates on Wednesday (March 8).

He added that Pharmaniaga had made a decision to purchase a huge stock of Covid-19 vaccine to prepare for the national vaccination and booster programme.

"They bought it with the anticipation that the government will need vaccines in a short period of time.

"However, unfortunately the decision made by the government then was here and there.

"They wanted to clear Pfizer (vaccines) first.

"This has created a huge stock," he explained.

However, he assured Parliament that Pharmaniaga's overall business was doing well, with a good overall turnover.

On Feb 27, Pharmaniaga Bhd had been classified as an affected listed issuer under Practice Note 17 (PN17) of the Main Market Listing Requirements of Bursa Malaysia.

In a filing with the stock exchange, the pharmaceutical company said it had triggered the PN17 criteria pursuant to its audited consolidated financial statements for the period ended on Dec 31, 2022.

A PN17 company is a listed company that does not have a core business or has failed to meet the minimum capital or equity and companies’ shareholders’ funds.

Pharmaniaga said it would need to submit a regularisation plan to the Securities Commission Malaysia within 12 months if the plan would result in a significant change in the business direction or policy of the company.