Aster DM Healthcare enters Bangladesh market, to open 25 pharmacies with GD Assist

Integrated healthcare provider Aster DM Healthcare has ventured into the Bangladesh market to provide pharmaceutical and varied products in nutrition, baby care, skincare, and home healthcare segments. The company has forayed into the Bangladesh market with Aster Pharmacy division, a UAE-based pharmacy chain. Aster Pharmacy division will be operated by GD Assist Limited in Bangladesh through a franchise agreement.

Aster DM in a statement said that it recorded 8 million pharmacy visits in its last financial year. Through this long-term agreement with GD Assist, Aster Pharmacy aims to expand its horizons beyond UAE, India, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and Jordan into other territories to provide customer-centric experience and genuine pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical products, the company said, adding that GD Assist Limited plans to open and operate a minimum of 25 stores located in high streets, communities and shopping malls of Bangladesh over a period of three years.

“We are looking to venture into a new market to serve more people and expand our footprint,” Alisha Moopen, Deputy Managing Director, Aster DM Healthcare, said. In FY22 the company earned revenues from hospitals (56%), pharmacies (21%), and clinics (23%). GCC and India contributed 77% and 23% of revenues, respectively.

Aster’s share price has grown by around 1.7 times over the past three years (from around 121 in August 2019 to around 215 levels in August 2022. “Witnessing good traction in retail pharmacy and guidance is for growth to sustain. On the margins front, ramp-up is expected in Q3 and Q4 towards 11.5%,” said a recent ICICI Direct research report.

Aster DM Healthcare currently operates 446 pharmacies in India, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and Jordan, including 201 Pharmacies in India operated by Alfaone Retail Pharmacies Private Limited under a brand license agreement.

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