Shares of Indonesia’s Kalbe Farma Hurt by Fatal Medicine Scandal
Shares of Kalbe Farma, Indonesia’s largest pharmaceutical company, have been under pressure over the past couple of days due to the deaths of two hospital patients after they had taken a medicine manufactured by Kalbe Farma. According to the Indonesian Pharmacy Association (GP Farmasi Indonesia) Buvanest Spinal, an anesthetic, was wrongly packaged and hence did not contain bupivacaine but instead tranexamic acid, which aims to stop or reduce heavy bleeding (usually used during surgery).
The Indonesian Pharmacy Association said that this incident is an important warning for the whole domestic pharmaceutical industry, particularly because it led to the tragic deaths of two people who were hospitalized in the Siloam Hospital Karawaci in Tangerang (near Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta). The anesthetic Buvanest Spinal has immediately been withdrawn from stores and hospitals. The association advised Indonesian hospitals to temporarily stop using Buvanest Spinal altogether until the investigation has been concluded.
Kalbe Farma is one of the Indonesian companies that is expected to grow robustly over the coming years as the Indonesian government has ambitious plans regarding the country’s healthcare system. Being the country’s leading provider of comprehensive healthcare solutions, which includes pharmaceuticals, nutrition, as well as health foods and beverages, Kalbe Farma is well-positioned to take advantage of government healthcare programs.
After the scandal became widely known on Monday (16/02), shares of Kalbe Farma plunged 3.7 percent at the first trading day of the week, then slightly recovering on Tuesday, but falling 0.28 percent again on Wednesday.
Stock Quote Kalbe Farma - KLBF:
The sharp decline that is visible in the chart below is because Kalbe Farma conducted a 1:5 stock split in October 2012.
Kalbe Farma's Financial Highlights:
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |
| Net Sales | 7,877.4 | 9,087.3 | 10,226.8 | 10,911.9 | 13,636.4 | 16,002.1 |
| Gross Profit | 3,803.6 | 4,511.9 | 5,166.4 | 5,551.2 | 6,533.4 | 7,679.1 |
| Net Income | 706.8 | 929.0 | 1,286.3 | 1,482.2 | 1,733.9 | 1,919.5 |
| Income before Tax | 1,178.0 | 1,471.1 | 1,770.4 | 1,987.3 | 2,308.0 | 2,572.5 |
| Total Assets | 5,703.8 | 6,482.4 | 7,032.5 | 8,274.6 | 9,418.0 | 11,315.1 |
| Total Liabilities | 1,359.0 | 1,691.5 | 1,260.4 | 1,758.6 | 2,046.3 | 2,815.1 |
| Earnings per Share¹² | 72 | 97 | 137 | 158 | 37 | 41 |
| Cash Dividend per Share¹² | 12.5 | 25 | 70 | 95 | 19 | 17 |
in billion IDR rupiah unless otherwise stated
¹ in IDR rupiah
² note 1:5 stock split in October 2012
Source: Kalbe Farma, Annual Report 2013