Qcil Delivers Record FY26 Performance, Advances Africa-Centric Growth Strategy

Quality Chemical Industries Limited – Qcil, Uganda’s leading pharmaceutical manufacturer, held its Annual General Meeting on 30 June 2026, reporting the strongest financial year in its history and continued progress on its growth strategy.

Revenue rose 8.8% to UShs 290.5 billion (FY25: UShs 267.1 billion), a Company record. Gross margin improved to 46.7%, from 40.6% in FY25, driven by manufacturing efficiencies, effective raw material cost control, and a more favourable product mix. Operating profit grew 24.2% to UShs 73.8 billion, and profit after tax rose 38.8% to UShs 56.4 billion. Operating cash flow more than doubled to UShs 67.5 billion (FY25: UShs 30.3 billion), helped by stronger earnings, improved working capital and full recovery of the previously impaired Government of Zambia receivable.

Operationally, FY26 was headlined by the completion of the hydroxyurea plant, making Qcil the only manufacturer of sickle-cell therapy on the continent. The Company launched 15 new private market products across antiallergics, antibiotics, antidiabetics, antifungals, antihypertensives, and antimalarials, and began construction of a new manufacturing facility at its Luzira site that will double production capacity and introduce new innovations, including injectables, to the portfolio. The facility is scheduled for completion within 24 months and has been funded by the Company’s own resources and bank debt.

^{The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health, Dr Diana Atwine, Chairman & Co-founder Emmanuel Katongole, CEO Ajay Kumar Pal with Sickle cell Health specialists at the launch of the Hydroxyurea Manufacturing Facility back in May at Qcil, Luzira}

“Qcil was founded on a simple conviction: that Africa’s health challenges deserve African solutions,” said Emmanuel Katongole, Qcil Chairman and Co-founder. “For over 20 years, that conviction has guided every decision we have made, every medicine we have manufactured, every market we have entered, every patient we have tried to reach. To mark this milestone, we broke ground on a new manufacturing facility that will double our capacity and enable us to fight more of the diseases that continue to plague our continent. We completed a dedicated manufacturing facility for hydroxyurea, bringing treatment for sickle-cell disease, a condition that has long been neglected across Africa,

closer to the patients who need it most. And we launched a paediatric ARV, because children are too often overlooked in the fight against HIV, yet they are the very future we are working to protect. FY26 was our strongest year yet, but what matters most is not what we earned; it is what we built, and who we built it for. We are just getting started.”

^{Shareholders at the Qcil Annual General Meeting at Sheraton Hotel}

Ajay Kumar Pal, Chief Executive Officer, added: “Our performance reflects the strength of our operating model. We are building a more efficient and diversified business, anchored in uncompromising quality and focused on the availability, affordability, and accessibility of our medicines.”

Shareholders approved a final dividend of UShs 6.4 per share, bringing the total FY26 dividend to UShs 16.6 per share, up 23.0% from UShs 13.5 per share in FY25, reflecting the Company's record financial performance. However, the Board cautioned that FY26 benefited from non-recurring items, including the recovery of previously impaired receivables from the Government of Zambia, and that this level of dividend should not be regarded as a precedent for future distributions.

Looking ahead, the Company expects near-term profitability to come under pressure from heightened global competition, procurement dynamics, evolving market conditions, supply chain challenges, and fluctuations in the cost of key inputs, including active pharmaceutical ingredients. While these headwinds are expected to weigh on margins in the near term, Qcil remains focused on disciplined execution, cost optimisation, operational efficiency, strategic portfolio expansion, and capacity enhancement, including the construction of the new manufacturing facility in Luzira, to strengthen its long-term growth and competitiveness.