Searle swings to Rs536m profit, declares Rs1/share dividend

September 25, 2026 (MLN): The Searle Company Limited (PSX: SEARL) swung to a consolidated net profit of Rs535.74m for the year ended June 30, 2026, reversing a loss of Rs1.37bn (restated) recorded in the corresponding period last year a complete earnings turnaround driven by the elimination of a substantial discontinued operations loss and strong core business growth.

Showing this recovery, the company's basic and diluted earnings per share from continuing operations stood at Rs0.75, compared to earnings of Rs1.34 from continuing operations and a total loss per share of Rs2.38 (restated) in FY25.

The Board of Directors has announced a cash dividend of Rs1.00 per share (10%) for the year ended June 30, 2026.

From continuing operations, the top-line showed impressive momentum, with revenue from contracts with customers growing 29% year-on-year to Rs36.81bn from Rs28.60bn in the prior year.

Cost of sales rose at a slower pace of 22% to Rs17.67bn, allowing gross profit to expand by 36% to Rs19.14bn from Rs14.07bn showing meaningful margin improvement driven by better pricing and product mix.

On the expenditure side, distribution costs rose 29% to Rs11.21bn, administrative expenses rose 2% to Rs2.03bn, and other expenses nearly quadrupled to Rs434.71m from Rs93.80m. Other income nearly doubled to Rs833.65m from Rs421.75m, providing a partial offset.

An impairment loss on goodwill of Rs993.00m was recorded in the current year with no prior year comparable a notable one-off charge that weighed on the operating line. Despite this, profit from operations grew 43% to Rs5.29bn from Rs3.69bn.

Below the operating line, finance cost declined sharply by 48% to Rs1.09bn from Rs2.10bn a substantial tailwind that pushed profit before levies and income tax to nearly triple at Rs4.20bn from Rs1.59bn. Levies minimum tax and final tax declined 62% to Rs22.99m from Rs60.53m, bringing profit before income tax to nearly triple at Rs4.18bn from Rs1.53bn.

The factor that moderated the bottom-line recovery was a substantially higher income tax charge. Income tax expense more than quintupled to Rs3.64bn from Rs723.86m absorbing a significant portion of the exceptional pre-tax gains and limiting profit from continuing operations to Rs535.74m, down 34% from Rs807.37m last year.

The transformative element of the full-year result, however, was the complete absence of any loss from discontinued operations against a loss of Rs2.18bn net of tax in the prior year which, combined with the continuing operations profit, swung the total result to a profit of Rs535.74m from a loss of Rs1.37bn.

Of the total profit, Rs440.37m was attributable to owners of the parent company from continuing operations, while non-controlling interests contributed Rs95.37m from continuing operations up from Rs18.05m last year.

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