Domestic pharmaceutical companies’ coffers are overflowing with cash, thanks to sales growth in the second quarter of this year.
Some pharmaceutical companies that have already announced earnings, such as Green Cross녹십자 and Celltrion Healthcare셀트리온, showed record-high quarterly earnings, and others will also likely follow their example.
Hanmi Pharmaceuticals한미약품 (CEO Woo Jong-soo우정수) announced Thursday that it achieved sales of 222.8 billion won ($199.4 million) and operating profit of 21.5 billion won ($19.2 million) in the second quarter by consolidated accounting standards, up 236.9 percent from the same period of last year.
Hanmi's stable growth of flagship products and improved earnings at Beijing Hanmi Pharm, a Chinese subsidiary, were the main reasons for the company’s impressive second quarter results.
"We expect to continue to show robust performance thanks to the release of composite hypertension treatment Amosartan, scheduled for the second half of this year," a company official said.
Green Cross (CEO Huh Eun-chul허은철) announced Wednesday that its operating profit in the April-June quarter amounted to 34.5 billion won, up 43.6 percent from a year earlier. The company ascribed their record sales from its blood products and vaccines.
Celltrion Healthcare (President & CEO, Kee Woo-sung기우성 & Kim Hyoung-ki김형기) recorded sales of 246.1 billion won, and operating profits of 138.3 billion won in the second three-month period. Its accumulated sales and operating profits in the first half of this year also increased 50 percent and 118 percent, respectively, from a year ago to 442.7 billion won and 227.7 billion won.
Ildong Pharmaceutical일동제약(CEO Lee Jung-chi이정치) also said its operating profit for the second quarter was estimated to be 5.8 billion won, up 89.7 percent from the previous quarter. According to Ildong, sales grew 5.4 percent to 110.2 billion won, and net profit increased 113.3 percent to 5.2 billion won.
Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceuticals종근당 (CEO Kim Young-joo김영주) also expected sales of 228.2 billion won, up 6.08 percent year on year, on the back of growth in flagship products. The operating profit was estimated to grow 40.5 percent to 14.9 billion won.
Yuhan Corp.유한양행(CEO Jung Hee-lee정히이) is expected to top the sales list with the second-quarter turnover of 360 billion won, up 10.22 percent. Its estimate for operating profit amounted to 14.9 billion won, an increase of 10.2 percent from a year earlier.