API Holding Research report

PharmEasy is a consumer healthcare Company that provides consumers with on-demand, home delivered access to a wide range of prescription, OTC pharmaceutical, other consumer healthcare products, comprehensive diagnostic test services, and teleconsultants. Pharmeasy was founded in year 2015 by founder Dharmil Sheth and Dr. Dhaval Shah. API Holdings through its latest acquisition is try to build an integrated digital healthcare platform, where the company offers teleconsultation; diagnostics and radiology tests; and RedBook, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management software for pharmacies. It also provides call center management, medical and legal transcription, data processing, warehousing, and database management services. They are India’s largest digital healthcare platform (based on GMV of products and services sold for the year ended March 31,2021), according to RedSeer Report.

Products and Services:

1.Sale of Products: PharmEasy sell pharma, OTC and private label medical products, surgical and consumables procured from pharmaceutical companies to (i) distribution to retailer, (ii) distribution to chemist and institutions and (iii) Aknamed which we acquired in September 2021. As per RedSeer Report, we are the second largest buyer of pharmaceuticals among pharma wholesalers and retailers, in India, as of financial year 2021.

2. Sale of Services: GMV from sale of services was ₹32,451.61 million and ₹14,814.40 million in Fiscal 2021and three months ended June 30, 2021. This includes GMV primarily from (i) diagnostics services, and (ii) 3P GMV.

Highlights of Financial Performance:

·Revenue from operations has grown 249% in FY21. This strong growth in consolidated revenue is also due to their latest investment in thyrocare and Medlife.

· EBITDA Margin improved from -57.85% in FY20 to -24.4% in FY21

· API Reported loss of ₹ 641 cr, in FY21 which saw a growth of 91%, loss in FY20 was ₹ 335.95 Cr.

· Company reported ROE of -18.50% in FY 21.

· On consolidated basis company reported cash flow of ₹ -813.6Cr. and free cash flow of ₹ -844.56 Cr. in FY 21.

Strengths:

· API Holding is a one stop shop in pharmacy market as they are into medicine supply to retailer and wholesaler, offers teleconsultation; diagnostics and radiology tests.

· The company has a first mover advantage in the industry due to which it has captured a wider market than any of its peers

Risks:

· Biggest Risk is company constantly making losses and are regularly diluting their equity to fund those losses.   

Investment:

Aknamed: Aknamed is streamlining the healthcare supply chain in India which was founded by Saurabh Pandey and Mahadevan Narayanamoni in 2018. Mayank Kapoor, Shaunak Joshi and Varun Vohra later came on board as co-founders. PharmEasy has spent around Rs 380 crore to acquire stakes of Aknamed cofounders and angel investors. Post the fresh allotment of shares, PharmEasy has a total 67.3% stake in Aknamed followed by Lightstone Fund with a 31.3% stake.

Thyrocare: API Holdings Ltd (API), the parent firm of PharmEasy, announced the signing of definitive documents to acquire 66.1 per cent stake in Thyrocare from A Velumani and affiliates at Rs 1,300 per share. This stake purchase is valued at Rs 4,546 crore. Besides, API will acquire an additional 26 per cent in Thyrocare via a mandatory open offer and is offering Rs 1,788 crore for the same. Velumani founder of Thyrocare will be separately acquiring a minority non-controlling stake of less than 5 per cent in API as part of a series of equity investments by existing and new investors of API.

Medlife: Medicine e-tailer PharmEasy has bought Medlife for an undisclosed amount, marking the largest consolidation in the domestic online pharmacy sector. As per the deal, Medlife users will become PharmEasy customers with Medlife discontinuing operations from now. The merged entity will now serve around 2 million customers every month.              

 

Global E Pharmacy Market Size:

As per the report, the global ePharmacy Market (Online Pharmacy Market) is estimated to grow to USD 107.5 billion by 2027 from USD 49.43 billion in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 16.81% between 2022 to 2027. Increasing the prevalence of the internet of things worldwide and the growing use of smartphones and tablets are the key factors driving the global online pharmacy market demand. The adoption of online pharmacies is growing significantly worldwide due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, boosting the growth rate of the ePharmacy market. Online Pharmacy will be the next huge innovation that will impact billions of lives and make a healthy behavioral change safer and more convenient tomorrow. It is one of the technological innovations that has positioned itself as an attractive model in the online healthcare sector, which is expected to generate huge demand in the future

Indian Healthcare Market:

The Indian online pharmacy market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 20.1% during the forecast period. The Indian pharmaceuticals market is the third largest in terms of volume and in the top 15 in terms of value, globally. The growth in pharmaceutical market will be majorly driven by the high burden of disease, good economic growth leading to higher disposable incomes, improvements in healthcare infrastructure, and improved healthcare financing, to name a few.

Online pharmacy is at its nascent stage in India, but like other categories, has the potential to be a very large industry segment in the near future. The online purchase of medicines is gaining momentum in India. The advent of online pharmacy retailers in the Indian market will further increase the penetration of the organized pharmacy segment. It is expected that the online pharmacy model could account for 15%-20% of the total pharma sales in India over next 10 years, largely by enhancing adherence and access to medicines for a majority of the under-served population. 

The Indian online pharmacy market is segmented based on medicine type. Based on medicine type, the online pharmacy market is segmented into OTC medicines and prescription medicines. OTC medicines is leading the medicine type segment by a large margin, whereas the prescription medicines is the fastest growing segment in India. Currently, many online pharmacy players that include 1 MG, Amazon.com, Inc., Netmeds Marketplace Ltd., PharmEasy, and Practo Technologies Pvt. Ltd. operate in this segment.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           (Source: omrglobal.com, World Bank, DRHP)

Of the ₹10.4 trillion healthcare spend, pharma, diagnostics, OTC, consultation, and hospital supplies together account for ₹4.2 trillion annual spend or ~20%, ~6%, ~3%, ~7% and ~5% respectively, which is a combined ~41% share of the total healthcare spend. Overall, OPD healthcare is a large ₹ 4.3 trillion market, split across pharma, diagnostics, OTC, consultation and hospital treatments. The OPD journey typically starts with the patient becoming aware of health-related problems, either via experiencing the symptoms or via preventive healthcare check-ups. This is generally followed by consultation with a doctor, who advises the patient to get themselves tested for the potential ailments. Subsequently, the patient visits the diagnostics lab, receives his test reports, and revisits the doctor to confirm the ailment and start the required treatment.

Founder:

Siddharth Shah is the Co-founder, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Company: He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from the Dwarakadas J. Sanghavi College, Mumbai and a post graduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He was associated with Ascent Health and Wellness Solutions Private Limited as its managing director. He has been a Director on our Board since August 27, 2020.

Dharmil Sheth is a Co-founder and Whole-time Director of the Company: He holds a bachelor’s degree in electronics engineering from the K.J. Somaiya College of Engineering, University of Mumbai and a post graduate diploma degree in management (marketing) from the Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad. He was associated with MakeMyTrip (India) Private Limited as a part of the online products team, and with 91Streets Media Technologies Private Limited as director and co-founder. He has been a Director on our Board since September 9, 2021.

Board Member

Aditya Puri is the Chairman and a Non-executive Director of the Company: He is a chartered accountant and an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, New Delhi. Previously, he has been associated with HDFC Bank Limited as its managing director. He has been a Director on our Board since April 20, 2021.

Harsh Parekh is a Co-founder and Whole-time Director of the Company: He holds a master’s degree in business administration from the School of Business Management, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai. Previously, he was associated with Bharti Airtel Limited. He was also the Chief Operations Officer of Ascent Health and Wellness Solutions Private Limited. He has been a Director on our Board since July 1, 2019.

Ashutosh Sharma is a Non-Executive Director of the Company: He holds a master’s degree of business administration from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, Illinois. He was associated with Norwest Venture Partners, Qualcomm India Private Limited and is currently associated with MIH Internet Private Limited (a Prosus Company). He has been a Director on our Board since April 5, 2021.

Ankur Thadani is a Non-Executive Director of the Company: He holds a bachelor’s degree in electronics and telecommunication engineering from the University of Mumbai, Maharashtra. He is associated with TPG Growth and RISE Fund as a partner. He has been a Director on the Board since March 2, 2021.

Deepak Vaidya is an Independent Director of the Company: He is a chartered accountant and an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, New Delhi. He is on the board of various companies in the pharmaceutical, hospitals, and finance sector. He has been a Director on our Board since April 20, 2021.

Vineeta Rai is an Independent Director of the Company: She holds a bachelor’s degree in arts (history honours) from the University of Delhi, New Delhi. She is a retired Indian Administrative Officer (Batch of 1968) and has an experience in the fields of health administration and finance with work experience in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.  Subramaniam Somasundaram is an Independent Director of the Company: He holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Madras and is a chartered accountant and cost accountant with experience in finance, strategy and business roles. Previously, he was associated with the Titan Company Limited, as its chief financial officer.

Ramakant Sharma is an Independent Director of the Company: He holds a bachelor’s degree in materials and metallurgical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and a post graduate degree in management from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. He is a co-founder, chief technology officer and chief operating officer at Livspace.com (Home Interior Design E-commerce Private Limited), home interior and renovation platform.

 Government Initiatives:

Finance Minister Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman announced an additional outlay of Rs. 197,000 crore which will be utilised over five years for the pharmaceutical PLI scheme in 13 key sectors such as active pharmaceutical ingredients, drug intermediaries and key starting materials.

Under Union Budget 2021-22, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has been allocated ₹73,932 crore (US$ 10.35 billion) and the Department of Health Research has been allocated Rs. 2,663 crore (US$ 365.68 billion). The government allocated Rs. 37,130 crore (US$ 5.10 billion) to the 'National Health Mission’.

The Digital India Program was started by the government in 2015 to digitally connect every corner of India including the rural areas and remote villages with high-speed internet. Over the years this program has increased the number of online users to a large extent and has helped online businesses in increasing their consumer base. With the increase in internet usage this is going to be beneficial for the company like online pharmacy company.

To achieve self-reliance and minimise import dependency in the country's essential bulk drugs, the Department of Pharmaceuticals initiated a PLI scheme to promote domestic manufacturing by setting up greenfield plants.

PM Aatmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana was allocated Rs. 64,180 crore (US$ 8.80 billion) over six years. The Ministry of AYUSH was allocated Rs. 2,970 crore (US$ 407.84 million), up from Rs. 2,122 crore (US$ 291.39 million). This will assist healthcare related service industries to grow in the long run.

OUTLOOK:

India’s domestic pharmaceutical market is estimated at US$ 42 billion in 2021 and likely to reach US$ 65 billion by 2024 and further expand to reach US$ 120-130 billion by 2030.API Holding revenue grew 250% in FY21, which was majorly due to a huge surge in the demand for pharmaceuticals and healthcare products as a result of rise in pandemic. Company is trying to become an integrated Pharmacy player with their recent acquisitions like thyrocare and Aknamed, Thyrocare acquisition will allow it to tap a larger market due to increased awareness on self-care and as the insurance penetration increasing in India, people preference is also shifting to branded diagonistics. Pharmeasy advantages (i) well-established brand, (ii) genuine and good quality pharmaceutical products offering, (iii) wide product offering, (iv) ability to achieve high fulfilment rates, (v) offering of neighbourhood convenience with large store footprint, and (vi) ability to offer competitive pricing to the customers, is likely to continue the gains in market share.

API Holding need to focus on profitability as they are constantly making losses even on the EBITDA level, for acquisition they are constantly raising equity and diluting there share capital, online pharmacy as a business has a long way to go in India as per capita income of individual are still low in India and awareness for quality medical treatment is still low.

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