Hanmi Pharmaceutical said Tuesday that it recorded sales of 274.6 billion won ($236 million) in the first quarter of this year, up 11.8 percent from the same period of last year.

Hanmi headquarters in Bangi-dong, eastern Seoul.

The company also registered 26 billion won in operating profit, down 0.9 percent while posting a net profit of 17.5 billion won, a drastic 55.7 percent increase. Hanmi also increased its R&D investment to 59.3 billion won.

“When excluding the increase in R&D expenses, the company is continuing to enjoy healthy growth in sales, and operating and net profit,” a company official said. The sales of Hanmi’s flagship products, including cardiovascular drugs, remained strong.

According to data from UBIST, Amosartan, a hypertension treatment, recorded a sale of 17.9 billion won, while Rosuzet, a hyperlipidemia treatment, grew 24 percent year on year to 15.7 billion won. Hanmi’s reflux esophagitis treatment Esomezol grew 14.6 percent to the sales to 7 billion, and that of Amosartan Plus increased 133.3 percent to 3.9 billion won.

Beijing Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Hanmi’s Chinese subsidiary, also contributed to strong sales in the first three months. The Chinese branch posted sales of 70.3 billion, operating profit of 19.2 billion won, and a net profit of 17.6 billion won. Hanmi Fine Chemical, another subsidiary, also turned profitable.

“Despite the increase in our R&D investment, we have achieved solid earnings with a virtuous circle of sales and investment driven by growth from flagship products,” the company said. “We will continue to concentrate all efforts on innovation through internal management.”

JVM, Hanmi’s subsidiary focusing on automatic tablet distributing and packing system (ATDPS), said it registered 25.3 billion won in sales, 3.1 billion won in operating profit and 2 billion won in net profit, in the first quarter.

“Despite the seasonal decline in demand, sales grew 12.6 percent year on year, and exports drove 40 percent of sales,” a company official said. “Operating profit grew 24.7 percent as domestic and overseas sales grew to double digits.”

Recently, the company has agreed with OMB, a Russian medical device supplier, to supply ATDPS to Russia, the official added.

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