Huons announced on the 10th that it posted third-quarter consolidation sales of 153.7 billion won, operating profit of 9.9 billion won, and net profit of 8.2 billion won. Compared with the same period a year earlier, sales rose 4.7%, operating profit 13.7%, and net profit 13.3%.
The company said a recovery in injectable exports to the United States and an increase in contract manufacturing (CMO) for eye drops lifted results.
Third-quarter sales grew, centered on prescription drugs and the CMO (contract manufacturing) institutional sector. Prescription drug sales were 70 billion won, up 5.1% year over year. Sales of the flagship anesthetic rose 44%. Exports of injectables also increased 51% from a year earlier. In particular, the rebound in exports to the United States, which had been weak last year, worked positively.
Beauty and wellness business sales fell 27.6% to 35.3 billion won. However, the company said this was because the health functional food institutional sector was partitioning and merged into the subsidiary "HuonsN" in May, and its results were transferred. Excluding this, sales were 34.7 billion won, up 0.1% from a year earlier.
CMO business sales rose 28.0% to 19.9 billion won. As the utilization rate of the eye drop line at Plant 2 increased, contract sales of eye drops rose 14%, and contract sales of pharmaceuticals including injectables grew 37%.
Subsidiary results also improved. HuonsN, which took over the health functional food business, recorded sales of 19.4 billion won, up 40.8% year over year, continuing its growth trend. Huons Life Science, which had posted losses, also continued to turn a profit, showing improvement.
Huons recently obtained Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification for the new injectable line at Plant 2. The company plans to begin full-scale operation within the year to expand sales and profitability.
Song Su-young, Huons CEO, said, "We maintained growth in the third quarter on the back of prescription drug exports, higher CMO sales, and improved subsidiary results," adding, "We will raise the utilization rate of Plant 2 and secure new R&D pipelines to establish mid- to long-term growth drivers."
Meanwhile, the company announced the decision that day to issue exchangeable bonds backed by treasury shares. It plans to use the funds raised to repay existing borrowing fund.
In addition, through HuonsN, it decided to push ahead with acquiring a manufacturer that owns health functional food production facilities. The company said HuonsN has recently seen a sharp increase in health functional food export volumes, with the spout production line exceeding maximum utilization, and that it needs to expand production capacity to prepare for further export growth.
Huons will also implement a third-quarter dividend for the first time. It decided on a cash dividend of 570 won per share, with the record date on the 25th. The dividend is a "reduction dividend" that uses funds transferred by converting capital surplus into retained earnings, and shareholders can receive a tax-exempt benefit. The company said it maintained an upward policy of 0% to 30% year over year through the additional third-quarter dividends.