Shown above is the head office of Samsung Biologics in South Korea. The biotechnological company logged a record profit during the first quarter of this year, compared to its parent company Samsung Electronics, which barely avoided a deficit. Photo courtesy of Samsung Biologics

Korean biotech giant expected to keep profitable

South Korean biotechnological company Samsung Biologics announced on April 24 that it had chalked up a record profit during the first quarter of this year.

The company’s sales amounted to $440 million during the January-March period, up 16 percent from a year ago, for an operating profit of $176 million, up 33 percent from last year.

Samsung Biologics CEO John Rim expected that the company’s bottom line would remain solid down the road based on expansion of its production facilities.

“Enabled by the groundwork we have laid with our strategic capacity expansion plans, our first quarter results demonstrate stable revenue growth as we continue to drive strong operational excellence and business agility with full utilization of Plants 1, 2, and 3,” Kim said.

“With continued partnership expansion with global pharma, we are focused on achieving sustainable growth and securing more robust capacity with Plant 4 set to be fully operational by June and the groundbreaking of Plant 5 to occur later this year.”

The stellar performance compares to that of its parent company Samsung Electronics, which saw its first-quarter profit decline more than 95 percent this year.

The tech giant racked up a $455 million operating income during the first three months of this year, which was also the lowest in 14 years, due to the weak demand for memory chips.

Woori Financial Group, one of South Korea’s top financial outfits, also noted Monday that its first-quarter operating income stood at $683 million, up 8.6 percent year-on-year. It’s the largest profit of the financial group for the first quarter.

The group’s main subsidiary is Woori Bank, a Seoul-based lender.
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