[Click eStock] "Green Cross Expected to Achieve Record-High Earnings in Q3"

[Asia Economy, reporter Park Jihwan] Hana Financial Investment announced on October 12 that it is maintaining its "Buy" rating on Green Cross, raising its target price by 6.15% from 260,000 won to 276,000 won, citing record-breaking third-quarter results driven by strong growth in the domestic influenza vaccine market.

Sun Minjeong, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, stated, "Green Cross's consolidated sales for the third quarter are estimated to have reached 428.6 billion won, up approximately 16% year-on-year, and operating profit is expected to have increased by about 51% to 55.3 billion won, marking the highest results in the company's history."

She further analyzed that, due to concerns over a "twindemic"-the simultaneous outbreak of COVID-19 and influenza-the domestic influenza vaccine sales in the third quarter are estimated to have reached 77.5 billion won, an increase of about 47% compared to the previous year. With the significant increase in high-margin influenza vaccine sales, the operating margin is also expected to rise to 12.9%, up 3 percentage points from 9.9% in the third quarter of the previous year.

In particular, she predicted that operating profit in the fourth quarter, which had traditionally suffered losses due to vaccine disposal volumes, is also likely to turn positive this year.

Sun Minjeong added, "Sales of influenza vaccines for the Northern Hemisphere in the third quarter are expected to have increased by 70% year-on-year, reaching about 12 billion won. The WHO bid orders for Northern Hemisphere influenza vaccines amount to 32 billion won this year, and it is anticipated that the remaining 20 billion won worth of influenza vaccines will be exported in the fourth quarter."

She further explained, "In the fourth quarter of this year, concerns about a twindemic have led to a significant increase in influenza vaccination rates, and unlike last year, the free vaccination program has switched to quadrivalent vaccines. As a result, it is estimated that almost no influenza vaccine disposal will occur this year."