Samsung BioLogics improves its performance

Samsung BioLogics sales and operating profit improved last year, largely thanks to its contract manufacturing business line, the company said Tuesday.

The biologics company’s sales rose 223 percent year on year from 91.3 billion won ($78.3 million) to 294.6 billion won last year and its operating losses decreased 85 percent from 203.6 billion won to 30.4 billion won.

This was the first time that the company officially announced its performance since listing on the benchmark Kospi market in November.

“The performance in 2016 was better than we previously set as goal largely thanks to the COM business line that has improved,” the company said in a press release on Tuesday. “Our first plant that is fully operating in the CMO business and Plant 2 which started trial production helped sales to grow. The third plant with the world’s largest capacity of 180,000 liters is 60 percent complete and we expect mechanical completion in the fourth quarter of this year.”

The company’s CMO business line alone saw sales grow 337 percent year on year from 67.4 billion won in 2015 to 294.6 billion won last year.

Shares of Samsung BioLogics closed at 155,000 won on the Kospi market, down 0.32 percent from the previous trading day.

An analyst said that the company’s performance will remain stable this year.

“Samsung BioLogics has signed a deal with Swiss based Cilag to manufacture 300 billion won worth of products and it appears that Samsung has proven its ability to supply products by signing deals with global pharmaceutical companies,” said Lee Tae-young, an analyst at Mertiz Securities. “The company has been approved to sell three types of biosimilar products in Europe and it is expected that it will be approved to sell one of its product in the United States this year. The company will receive more orders from abroad.”

BY KIM YOUNG-NAM [kim.youngnam@joongang.co.kr]