October Pharma (OP)'s profits are expected to decrease in 2018, due to purchasing medical products from Sigma Pharmaceuticals, Ahmed Zaghloul, managing director at OP, said. "To clarify, OP bought medical products from Sigma by obtaining a bank loan and is currently paying it off," he highlighted, adding that the value of the OP-Sigma deal is EGP 130m. "Hereby, the company targets increasing usual sales," Zaghloul said. Moreover, he declared that the company targets injecting investments valued at EGP 30m, in order to develop its production facilities. "OP is scheduling to maintain, as well as renovate, its existing production area," he illustrated, assuring that the company does not intend to open new production lines in 2018. It is worth mentioning that OP's profits came to EGP 40.8m by the end of September 2017, compared to EGP 24.4m in the corresponding period of 2016. In this regard, the company traced this hike in profits—which represents about 67% year-over-year—back to a surge in sales the company witnessed in 2018. "The company's planning budget revealed that OP targets raising sales in 2018 to EGP 480m, resulting in a 31% surge," the company revealed in statement. According to the statement, the targeted increase in sales during the current year does not include the medical products bought from Sigma Pharmaceutical. "Furthermore, OP is looking to achieve local sales valued at EGP 337m during 2018," the company's statement highlighted. Moreover, OP's exports are scheduled to amount to EGP 59m throughout the current year, according to the statement. October Pharma's capital is valued at EGP 60m, distributed across 6m shares at a nominal value of EGP 10 per share.
