As its cumulative sales in the three quarters were 739.4 billion won (9.8% rise year on year), it is expected to hit the 1 trillion won level this year. (image: Yuhan Corp.)
SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Korea Bizwire) – Yuhan Corporation, the first runner in terms of sales and net profit among Korean drug companies, is expected to reach one trillion won sales this year, for the first time as a pharmaceutical company.
In a recent electronic disclosure to the Financial Supervisory Service, Yuhan said that its preliminary sales during the third quarter were 259.1 billion won (US$240 million), a 16.9 percent increase over the same period of the previous year. As its cumulative sales in the three quarters were 739.4 billion won (9.8% rise year on year), it is expected to hit the 1 trillion won level this year.
Its operational profit in the third quarter was 13.5 billion won, a 4.4 percent increase year on year and its net profit during the quarter were 11.8 billion won, a whopping 40.9 percent increase over the same period of the previous year.
Prior to the disclosure, the pharmaceutical industry had expected that it would show favorable results thanks to the increased exports of both prescription drugs (ETC) and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API).
In fact, Yuhan gained much in the prescription drug sector thanks to the steady sales of imported original drugs and the increased exports of APIs for hepatitis C. It also saw the marketing cost reduced substantially after the growth of the imported drugs in Korea.
Yuhan had expected that it would grow 11.6 percent for the year to make 1.04 trillion won sales in its disclosure in early February.
By John Choi (johnchoi@koreabizwire.com)
