JVM, a subsidiary of Hanmi Pharmaceutical, said Thursday that it recorded 25.8 billion won ($21.8 million) in sales in the first half of this year, a 14.2 percent increase from the same period of 2018.

The company also registered 1.9 billion won in operating profit and 1 billion won in net profit while investing 1.9 billion won of its sales into research and development.

JVM noted that the company’s domestic sales of increased steadily in the first half-year, but its operating profit declined because of a steady increase in R&D expenses to develop new innovative products and temporary allowance for bad debts at JVM Europe.

“In the second quarter alone, the company increased its local sales by 17.3 percent from a year ago after finding new buyers and increased sales of consumables,” a company official said. “The introduction of the INTIpharm, JVM’s automatic tablet distributing and packing system adopted by 30 hospitals here, will also likely spread to other hospitals.”

To expand overseas sales, the company is conducting case studies with companies in emerging markets such as the Middle East and Latin America, and is also seeking to expand sales channels in North America, the official said. The company expects to improve its profitability based on overseas revenues from the third quarter, he added.