Huons, Q2 Sales Reach 124.1 Billion KRW... 12% Increase YoY

Balanced Growth in Former Business Divisions
Increase in Sales of Trust, Beauty, and Wellbeing Businesses

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Huons announced on the 10th that its consolidated sales for the second quarter of this year reached 124.1 billion KRW, a 12% increase compared to the same period last year. Operating profit for the same period was 10.9 billion KRW, and net profit was 7.5 billion KRW, decreasing by 14% and 12%, respectively.

The company explained that the second-quarter performance was driven by balanced growth across all business divisions, with increased sales in the contract manufacturing and beauty & well-being business sectors leading the strong results.

Sales in the contract manufacturing division recorded 19.2 billion KRW, a 39% increase year-on-year. Pharmaceutical contract manufacturing sales reached 11.1 billion KRW, boosted by new sales from ‘Sugammadex Sodium Injection (muscle relaxant)’, and ophthalmic solution contract manufacturing also grew 24% year-on-year to 8.1 billion KRW.

The beauty & well-being business division posted sales of 45.5 billion KRW, a 10% increase compared to the previous year. Sales in the well-being, obesity, and pain sectors rose 16% to 23.6 billion KRW, driven by increased sales of vitamin injections and Riztox. The health functional food business recorded 16.9 billion KRW, supported by the growth of Menolacto, a probiotic for menopause. Menolacto’s sales in the second quarter reached 10.8 billion KRW, surpassing 10 billion KRW in quarterly sales as a single brand.

Huons Foodience, a health functional food subsidiary, also posted stable results. Second-quarter sales reached 10.4 billion KRW, driven by increased overseas exports and online sales growth of its own health functional food brand ‘InnerSet’. Operating loss improved to 20 million KRW.

The decrease in operating profit was attributed to increased manufacturing costs at the dedicated ophthalmic solution Plant 2 and higher research and development expenses. Manufacturing costs rose due to the preemptive reflection of labor costs at the ophthalmic solution plant preparing for trial operation in the second half of the year. R&D expenses increased by 33% year-on-year to 10.3 billion KRW, due to clinical trial costs for expanding indications of ‘Riztox’, which is preparing for domestic Phase 3 clinical trials.

Huons stated that clinical trials for its new drug pipeline under development are scheduled to proceed in earnest from the second half of this year. In April, the clinical trial plan (IND) for Phase 1 of ‘HUC2-396’, an improved drug for dyslipidemia, was approved, and in July, the IND for Phase 1 clinical trial of ‘HUC2-364’, a PPI combination drug for gastroesophageal reflux disease, was also approved.

Song Soo-young, CEO of Huons, said, “Despite uncertain external market conditions, we continued our growth through a portfolio diversification strategy. While faithfully advancing our core businesses, we are continuously discovering new businesses that can create synergy and accelerating the development of new drugs in preparation, aiming to open the era of 1 trillion KRW in group sales within three years.”