GC said Wednesday that it has recorded 1.3 trillion won ($1.1 billion) in sales last year, a 3.6 percent increase from 2017.

The company also registered 50.2 billion won in operating profit, a drastic 44.5 percent decrease from 2017, while posting a net profit of 34.3 billion won, a 39.6 percent drop from the previous year.

GC explained that it recorded the steepest sales growth thanks to the sharp increase in its blood derivatives business.

The company’s domestic sales increased 2.4 percent from the previous year, and overseas turnover grew 10.1 percent as the company increased exports for its blood products to Latin America. Blood products sales rose 3.9 percent, and specialty pharmaceuticals, 8.9 percent.

GC’s domestic sales of influenza vaccine, which the company independently developed and produced, showed excellent performance despite intensifying competition, but the sales of imported products were somewhat sluggish due to delays in supply.

“Profitability fluctuated although sales grew because research and development expenses increased 12.3 percent last year,” the company said. “The sales cost also rose because of an increase in fixed costs as the company continues to invest in the global market.”

Also, the sluggish results of GC MS and GC Labcell led to deteriorated profitability, it added, citing the case of GC Labcell, which marked R&D cost growth of 44.2 percent from the previous year, adversely affecting its operating profits.

“As overseas business continues to grow thanks to contracts with new partners, we will go ahead with expanding sales and R&D investment while focusing on profitability recovery by cutting costs,” a company official said.

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