Sangsangin Securities analyzed on the 3rd that growth is expected for ST Pharm starting from the second half of this year. The investment opinion was maintained as 'Buy,' and the target stock price was raised to 130,000 KRW.
Sangsangin Securities forecasted that ST Pharm's sales and operating profit for the first quarter of this year will be 54.8 billion KRW and 2 billion KRW, respectively. Sales are expected to increase by 8.1% compared to the same period last year, while operating profit is expected to decrease by 46.8%. Researcher Ha Tae-gi of Sangsangin Securities said, "Sales of the core product, oligonucleotide contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), are estimated to have increased by 15.0% year-on-year to 30.4 billion KRW," adding, "It is also estimated that the increase in sales from the subsidiary's contract research organization (CRO) contributed."
He continued, "The significant decrease in operating profit is due to the base effect of recognizing high-margin mRNA sales of 7 billion KRW in the first quarter of last year, and the reflection of losses of around 3 to 4 billion KRW per quarter from two new drug development subsidiaries."
However, sales and operating profit are expected to increase significantly from the second half of the year. He emphasized, "In the second half, commercial sales of blood cancer CDMO are expected to be recognized at around 60 billion KRW, at the latest by the fourth quarter," and added, "There is also a possibility of increased sales of clinical trial samples from other small and medium-sized bio companies due to the recovery of the bio industry."
He stated, "In 2025-2026, ST Pharm's CDMO sales are expected to grow significantly due to the commercialization schedule of global oligonucleotide-based major new drugs," and said, "Annual oligonucleotide CDMO active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) sales in 2024 are projected to increase by 9.3% from the previous year to 185.6 billion KRW."
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