Dong-A Socio and Dong-A ST Heads Swap Positions to Overcome Crisis

Dong-A Socio Holdings announced on the 28th that, effective next month 1st, it will appoint the current Kim Min-young, CEO of Dong-A ST, as President of Dong-A Socio Holdings, and Jung Jae-hoon, CEO of Dong-A Socio Holdings, as President of Dong-A ST. Both companies will hold special shareholders' meetings simultaneously on the 8th of next month to appoint them as inside directors, followed by board meetings to appoint them as representatives.

Regarding this personnel change, Dong-A Socio Group explained the background, saying, "This personnel move is to overcome the difficult management environment and secure new growth engines necessary for sustainable growth," and "qualified individuals with expertise and experience in each business have been assigned."

Dong-A ST recorded sales of 140.1 billion KRW in the first quarter of this year, a 3.7% increase compared to the same period last year, but operating profit fell sharply by 89.0% year-on-year to 700 million KRW. In particular, sales of its core business, prescription drugs, grew only 0.6% year-on-year in the first quarter to 101.6 billion KRW. There are growing concerns that sales decline due to ongoing conflicts between the government and medical community could intensify from the second quarter onward.

In this situation, the company made a sudden leadership swap between the holding company and Dong-A ST, the prescription drug business company. Jung Jae-hoon’s appointment as CEO of Dong-A ST is analyzed to be based on his past experience directly leading the sales division of Dong-A Pharmaceutical.

The company stated, "Dong-A ST is struggling to improve performance due to deteriorating sales conditions," and added, "Based on his experience and leadership, he is the right person to revitalize the organization, secure new growth engines, and lead the company to the next level." Park Jae-hong, who has led Dong-A ST’s research and development (R&D), will maintain his current role, while CEO Jung will lead the sales division and others.

Regarding Kim Min-young, the designated CEO of Dong-A Socio Holdings, the company said, "Based on his expertise and experience, he is the right person to effectively manage the efficiency of affiliated companies, establish business portfolios and investment strategies, discover new businesses, and lead mergers and acquisitions (M&A), which are the core roles of a holding company."

In addition to this personnel change, Dong-A ST also reassigned executives within the company, including ▲ Kim Yoon-kyung, Head of ETC Business Division (Managing Director), ▲ Cho Sang-wook, Head of General Hospital Business Division of ETC Business Division (Deputy Managing Director), ▲ Ryu Kyung-young, Head of Overseas Business Division (Managing Director), and ▲ Hong Kyung-pyo, Head of Compliance Management Office and Legal Team (Deputy Managing Director).