UPDATE 1-South African drugmaker Aspen posts 4% drop in annual profit

(Adds context in paragraph 3 and revenue and dividend in paragraph 4)

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 30 (Reuters) - South African drugmaker Aspen Pharmacare on Wednesday posted a 4% drop in annual profit impacted by higher inflation and a drop in COVID-19 vaccine sales.

For the year ended June 30, Aspen recorded headline earnings per share of 14.05 rand, down from 14.61 rand a year earlier.

Aspen had bet big on a massive demand for COVID-19 vaccines emanating from Africa but as the panic around the pandemic waned it was left with a huge idle capacity, forcing it to scout for new partnerships for shoring up revenues and profits.

It posted annual revenue of 40.7 billion rand ($2.19 billion) and announced dividends of 3.42 rand, both up 5% over the previous year. ($1 = 18.5656 rand) (Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; editing by Jason Neely and Nick Zieminski)