The National Pharmacy Association Limited, which owns the NPA membership body and NPA Insurance (NPAI), saw its pre-tax profits soar to £1,115,000 for the year ending December 2024 according to reports filed this week (May 21).
The results see the “not-for-profit” organisation’s profits – which the report stressed will be “reinvested in providing products and services for…members” – increase some 162% compared to its previous year’s pre-tax loss of £1.8m.
The company said that while “trading conditions have continued to be competitive”, its year-on-year turnover increased 19% to £19.3m in 2024.
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NPA Ltd pointed to its “revised investment strategy”, implemented in 2023, the results of which “continued to be seen in 2024 resulting in a gain of over £1.3m compared to a gain of £515k in 2023”.
Continuing to explain the booming profits, it added that “NPA Ltd was successful in recruiting new members through increased media presence” and “positive” member action that increased revenue by £150k.
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Meanwhile, recruitment to the NPA’s PharmOutcomes affinity group drove “nearly £350k of additional revenue” while training course sales increased by £110k, it said.
In addition to the company’s profit increases, NPA Ltd’s funds also increased thanks to “significantly reduced claims incurred in NPAI”, the company revealed.
“Driven by several factors”
In separate accounts filed last week (May 13), the NPA’s insurance arm reported that pre-tax profits rose to £2.3m in the year ending December 2024 – up a staggering 3,780% from a loss of £63k the previous year.
“The profit was driven by several factors,” NPAI said.
“The business saw claims drop back to more normal levels following a surge in post-COVID claims in 2023” and “investment income has improved in line with a change in investment strategy”, it explained.
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“There has also been growth in new business in the year as Peach” – the company’s GP surgery insurance offering – “continues to deliver opportunities and derive value to the group”, it said.
And NPAI “changed how it remunerates its parent” – halving NPA commissions from £1.2m in 2023 to £600k in 2024, it added.
“Finally, there has been a prior year correction in relation to the free renewal provision that has improved opening net assets,” NPAI said.
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The company had previously made a provision for free property-based policy renewals if no claim was made “for five consecutive years”, calculating the “estimated cost of free renewals incrementally over a five-year period”, it said.
“Having reviewed the nature of this provision, the directors have concluded that this provision should not be recognised,” it added.
“This restatement has resulted in a reduction in the loss before tax in 2023 from £1.9m to £63k,” it explained.
NPA latest
The results come after a tumultuous period for the NPA membership body.
In April, the pharmacy body announced that it would not recommend collective action to its members after all, saying that the new pharmacy contract represents “a clear step forward after a decade of cuts”.
Read more: NPA appoints ‘first female vice chair’ as new chair revealed
It made the move despite a unanimous vote from its members in favour of protest action in November and after the NPA claimed in January that it would “not hesitate” to recommend action if a funding deal did not meet “five key tests”.
The decision came after the new funding deal prompted the body to pause its plans to recommend pharmacy collective action from April 1 while it consulted its members.
At the time, some 60% of polled C+D readers said that they did not think that the NPA made the right decision in calling off the plans.
