Celltrion Pharm(068760) achieved its highest-ever quarterly operating profit in the second quarter of this year, driven by balanced growth in chemical pharmaceuticals, biosimilars, and contract manufacturing (CMO).
Celltrion Pharm said on the 4th in a preliminary earnings filing that it posted consolidated sales of 153.3 billion won and operating profit of 19.3 billion won in the second quarter of this year. Compared with the second quarter of last year, sales rose 16.8% and operating profit increased 24.4%. The second-quarter operating margin was 12.6%, up 0.8 percentage points from a year earlier.
Cumulative first-half sales were 285.4 billion won and operating profit was 32.2 billion won, up 17.1% and 22.7%, respectively. Net profit also increased 22.4% to 22.5 billion won.
By business, the chemical business recorded sales of 67.0 billion won. The liver treatment "Godex," backed by expanded prescriptions, generated 17.7 billion won in sales, up 10.1% from a year earlier, and sales of the diabetes treatments "Nesina" and "Actos," and the hypertension-hyperlipidemia combo "AMLOJET," also supported results.
Sales in the bio business were 36.6 billion won, up 12.5% from a year earlier. Expanded prescriptions for the autoimmune disease treatment "Remsima" and the hematologic cancer treatment "Truxima," as well as "Yuflyma" and the anticancer drug "Vegzelma," led growth. The allergy treatment "OMLYCLO" also saw a sharp increase in sales thanks to more new prescriptions at major hospitals.
The contract manufacturing production business recorded sales of 49.7 billion won, driven by higher output of prefilled syringes (PFS) on expanding global demand. That was up 53.4% from a year earlier. Commercial PFS production sales were 35.3 billion won, up 51.9%.
A Celltrion Pharm official said, "With steady growth across key business divisions, both sales and profitability improved," adding, "In the second half, we will sustain our growth by strengthening the sales competitiveness of our flagship products and leveraging production capacity that can respond flexibly to market demand."