Osstem Implant has good Q1, shares start trading again

Osstem Implant’s headquarters in Gangseo District, western Seoul. [OSSTEM IMPLANT]

Osstem Implant, the country’s largest dental implant manufacturer, reported record operating profit for the first quarter thanks to the strong overseas growth.

The company reported first quarter operating profit of 51.2 billion won ($40.7 million), up 100 percent on year, according to an earnings announcement released Wednesday.

Quarterly sales were 234.1 billion won, a 36 percent increase on year. Net profit for the quarter was not disclosed.

The sales were a record high for a first quarter.

Osstem Implant cited rapid growth overseas for its strong sales. The company had overseas sales of 168 billion won in the first quarter, up 58 percent year on year.

According to the company, quarterly sales grew by 56 percent in China, 59 percent in Russia and 76 percent in the United States.

Last Jan. 3, the company reported that the manager of its finance department skimmed a total of 221.5 billion won from the company’s accounts in 15 transactions between Nov. 2020 and Oct. 2021. Trading in Osstem Implant shares were suspended and resumed on the Kosaq Thursday. Korea Exchange’s corporate review committee decided against a delisting of the company.

Osstem Implant held an emergency board meeting on Wednesday and decided to buy 30-billion worth of its shares.

“We will improve the internal stability and accelerate our global business plan after this embezzlement incident,” said CEO Um Tae-kwan.

Um pledged to increase shareholder value by “implementing various shareholder-friendly policies,” starting with buying back shares.

Following the embezzlement, Osstem Implant adopted measures to prevent such an incident in the future and improve its business integrity, such as filling more than half of the board members with non-executive directors and establishing a corporate audit committee and an ethical management committee, the company said. It also appointed a compliance officer and set up a committee for non-executive director recommendations.

Osstem Implant’s sales target for this year is 1 trillion won, up 21.5 percent from last year's 823 billion won, with an operating profit goal of 170 billion won. The company's operating profit was 141.9 billion won in 2021.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]