Seegene's Q1 Sales Reach 81.8 Billion KRW, Up 200% YoY

Achieved 70% of Previous Year's Sales
COVID-19 Impact Expected to Fully Reflect in Q2 Results

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Molecular diagnostics specialist Seegene announced on the 14th that it achieved consolidated sales of 81.8 billion KRW, operating profit of 39.8 billion KRW, and net profit of 33.7 billion KRW in the first quarter of this year.

Seegene's sales reached about 70% of the previous year's annual level. Operating profit and net profit surpassed the previous year's annual levels, recording all-time highs.

A company official stated, "The proportion related to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in the first quarter was only about 35% of sales," and "We expect the impact on performance due to a substantial increase in COVID-related exports to become full-fledged from the second quarter."

He added, "The first quarter of this year was a quarter that laid the foundation for overall performance improvement, as sales excluding the COVID portion nearly doubled compared to the same period last year."

Both operating profit and net profit increased by nearly 600% compared to the same period last year, far exceeding the annual profit scale of 2019 (operating profit 22.4 billion KRW, net profit 26.7 billion KRW).

This is analyzed to be due to the increase in sales contributing to the expansion of operating profit amid a low-cost structure. As a similar profit structure pattern is expected to be maintained this year, expectations for performance after the second quarter are also growing.

Seegene stated, "Since COVID-19 related export performance will be fully reflected in the second quarter, we expect to achieve the highest quarterly performance once again."