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ublicly listed pharmaceutical company PT Darya-Varia Laboratoria (DVL) is optimistic about booking higher sales growth compared to the industry’s average this year despite the current slow growth in the pharmaceutical market.

“We expect our sales to grow faster than those of the pharmaceutical industry not only this year but also in the upcoming years,” DVL vice president director Jose S. Romana said Wednesday on the sidelines of the company’s shareholders meeting.

Although he declined to specify the company’s sales target for 2016, Romana said DVL aimed to maintain an at least 18 percent net sales growth this year, the same as in the previous year, in which it saw its sales increase to Rp 1.3 trillion (US$95 million) from Rp 1.1 trillion in 2014.

Meanwhile, the local pharmaceutical industry is predicted to grow by only 7 to 8 percent this year, DVL corporate secretary Frida O. Chalid said.

In an attempt to maintain its double-digit growth, DVL will focus on intensifying efforts to promote their brands by, among other things, improving consumer engagement and putting emphasis on the value-added benefits of its products, Romana said.

Moreover, the firm will also be strengthening its participation in the National Health Insurance (JKN) program by introducing a series of selected generic products for sterile and chronic care categories in a bid to increase sales, he said.

DVL has three main business streams: prescription, consumer health and export businesses, which represent 45 percent, 33 percent and 21 percent contribution ,respectively, of the company’s total revenue in 2015. Among its products are Imunped, a food supplement to help growth and new cell formation for children, antibacterial Daryaven and skin nourishment supplement Natur-E.

The company operates two factories, one in Citeureup, Bogor, West Java, which produces sterile and solid products and the other in Gunung Putri, also in Bogor, specializing in manufacturing soft capsule, liquid and cosmetic products.

DVL, Romana added, had no major investment plan this year as it saw its annual production capacity sufficient for the immediate future.

During the first quarter of the year, the company saw its sales from the prescription business jump 11 percent to Rp 136 billion from 122 billion in the corresponding period last year. Meanwhile, its consumer health business saw a 13 percent increase in sales to Rp 166 billion while its export business soared by 5.9 percent to Rp 177 billion.

Although the company’s total sales have shown a positive trend in all of its business streams, its net profit in the first quarter of 2016 declined slightly by 5.4 percent to Rp 56.5 billion from Rp 59.84 billion year-on-year (yoy) due to an increase in marketing expenses.

“The slight reduction of total profit in the first quarter was due to the increase in marketing expenses used for our brand-building campaigns,” DVL director Carlos O. Nava said.

Wednesday’s meeting also saw the company’s shareholders approve a plan to allocate Rp 72.5 billion out of the company’s net profit last year of Rp 108 billion to pay out dividends.

According to DVL’s 2015 annual report, 92.66 percent of the company shares are owned by Blue Sphere Singapore, an affiliate of the Philippines’ largest pharmaceutical company, United Laboratories (Unilab), and the remaining 7.34 percent shares by the investing public.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo launched in March the government’s 11th economic policy package, which it claims will serve as a stepping stone to reduce the country’s pharmaceutical industry’s heavy reliance on imported raw materials.

DVL’s Frida, however, said that the company, which imports 92-95 percent of its raw materials, currently had no plans to manufacture the materials locally. (win)