Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, African healthcare assets had begun to generate interest more widely. But Nigeria was and still lagging in this sector when compared to her African neighbours in terms of budget and access to quality healthcare.
However, the coronavirus pandemic has sharpened the eyes of government and investors on a substantial healthcare spending gap in Africa’s largest economy.
There is a very convincing reason for the development of world-class healthcare facilities across Africa, especially in Nigeria whose medical tourism has continued unabated.
According to data obtained by Nairametrics from the NGX which focused on best-performing healthcare stocks, Fidson Health Care Plc, Morison Industries Plc and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria (GSK) Plc made the list of three best-performing firms.
These stocks were selected based on their price performance from year to date and are represented by the percentage gained.
Fidson Healthcare Plc – 80.06%
- The shares of Fidson Healthcare Plc have enjoyed positive run since the beginning of the year. The healthcare firm listed on the NGX and the most capitalized healthcare company has gained 80.06% in share price during the half year, from N6.22 to N11.20. The company enjoyed buy-interests which drove up the market capitalization to gain N10.390 billion to stand at N23.367 billion at the close of trading on June 30, 2022, from the opening figure of N12.977 billion at the beginning of trading on January 4th.
- Fidson Healthcare Plc First Quarter report for the period ended 31 March 2022 showed that the company reported a turnover of N10.244 billion for the 3 months period, up by 61.23% from N6.353 billion reported in the corresponding period the previous year.
- Profit after tax grew year on year by 98.37% to N1.15 billion from N579.55 million reported in Q1 2021. Earnings per share of Fidson Healthcare stands at N0.55, up by 98.37% from the EPS of N0.28 reported the previous year.
- The P/E ratio of Fidson stands at 14.79x with an earnings yield of 6.76%. The shares of the company currently trade at N9.89 and has gained 59% year-to-date.
Morison Industries Plc – 10.06%
- The share price of Morison Industries Plc, grew by 10.06% during the period under review, from N1.99 per share to N2.19 share, lifting the market capitalisation to gain N198 million or 10.06% to close at N2.166 billion in June 2022 from the opening figure of N1.968 billion.
- Morison Industries Plc listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange under the Chemicals sector has released its 2022 interim results for the first quarter though with loss in bottom-line still enjoyed some level of positive sentiment during the period under review.
- Following sustained rise in costs, the company reported a loss after tax of N12.843 million for the q1 ended March 2022 from a loss of N19 million in 2021. Though revenue rose by 90.71% to N55.565 million in the first quarter of 2022, from N29.126 million in 2021, the high increase in the cost of sales and other expenses plunged the firm to lose position. Cost of sales increased by 82.52% to N37.907 million in Q1 2022 from N20.768 million in 2021. The shares of the company currently trades at N2.19 and has gained 10.06% year-to-date.
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc – 9.2%
- Shares of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria (GSK) Plc also gained a considerable positive run since the beginning of the year. The healthcare company gained 9.2% in price during the half year, from N5.95 to N6.50. The company enjoyed buy-interests which drove up the market capitalization to gain N658 million to close at N7,773 billion at the close of trading on June 30, 2022, from opening figure of N7.115 billion at the beginning of trading on January 4th.
- GSK’s Q1 2022 ended on March 31st 2022 showed a N194.367 million profit after tax as a against loss of N238,065 million posted in 2021.
- The company achieved these milestones despite the challenging macroeconomic environment.
- Revenue increased to N7.360 billion compared to last year’s N3.461 billion, accounting for a growth of 112.65% while cost of sales equally grew by 112.81% from N2.424 billion to N5.401 billion in 2022.
- The shares of the company currently trades at N6.00 and has gained 0.84% year-to-date.