3Q Sales Surpass 1 Trillion Won... 1 Trillion Won for Two Consecutive Quarters
Continuous Mega Orders
Supported by 'World No.1' Production Capacity
Samsung Biologics continued its record-breaking performance by surpassing 1 trillion KRW in sales in the third quarter, following the second quarter. It is widely regarded that the achievement of this year's target of "annual sales of 4 trillion KRW" is within reach.
On the 23rd, Samsung Biologics announced through a public disclosure that its consolidated sales for the third quarter of this year reached 1.1871 trillion KRW, with an operating profit of 338.578 billion KRW. Compared to the same period last year, sales grew by 14.8%, and operating profit increased by 6.29%. On a cumulative basis, sales surpassed 3 trillion KRW, and operating profit reached 994.4 billion KRW. The company attributed these results to "record-high sales driven by increased sales from Plant 4 and expanded sales of biosimilar products."
Separately analyzing Samsung Biologics and its subsidiary Samsung Bioepis, Samsung Biologics posted third-quarter sales of 1.0671 trillion KRW, a 21% increase compared to the same period last year. Operating profit also rose 17% to 444.7 billion KRW. Achieving quarterly sales of 1 trillion KRW on a standalone basis is a first since the company's founding. This was attributed to the continued full operation of Plants 1 to 3 and the smooth ramp-up of Plant 4.
Samsung Bioepis recorded sales of 330.3 billion KRW and operating profit of 67.9 billion KRW, maintaining growth of 26% and 38% respectively compared to the same period last year. Bioepis evaluated this as "an achievement in expanding biosimilar product sales without milestone revenue."
This third-quarter sales breakthrough of 1 trillion KRW marks the second time following the first quarter last year when sales first exceeded 1 trillion KRW. With the fourth quarter also expected to surpass 1 trillion KRW in sales, it is highly likely that the domestic pharmaceutical and bio industry will achieve the first-ever annual sales of 4 trillion KRW. Earlier in January, the company set a sales growth target of 10-15% for this year, projecting sales of 4.1564 trillion KRW as the midpoint, and on this day raised the growth target to 15-20% (midpoint 4.3411 trillion KRW). The revision was attributed to "increased sales due to the successful rise in Plant 4's operating rate and continued favorable exchange rate environment." Market analysts expect Samsung Biologics to exceed this, forecasting sales of 4.4668 trillion KRW, a 20.9% growth this year.
Samsung Biologics' sales growth is also supported by orders. On the 22nd, Samsung Biologics secured a record-breaking single contract worth 1.24256 billion USD (approximately 1.7028 trillion KRW) for contract manufacturing (CMO). This broke the previous record of 1.06 billion USD (approximately 1.4637 trillion KRW) set just over three months ago in July.
As a result, Samsung Biologics' cumulative orders for this year reached 4.3618 trillion KRW in just 10 months, already exceeding 24.6% of last year's total orders. The cumulative order amount since the company's founding also surpassed 15.4 billion USD (approximately 21 trillion KRW).
In terms of order quality, Samsung Biologics continues to meet the demands of big pharma while expanding its reach to mid-tier companies. Currently, it has secured 17 out of the top 20 global big pharma companies by market capitalization as clients. Notably, the largest contract this time did not disclose the specific client but was only referred to as an "Asian pharmaceutical company." Industry insiders speculate that it could be a Japanese pharmaceutical company, considering CEO John Rim recently participated in BioJapan to focus on the Japanese market. Rim has built a strong global network over 30 years working at big pharma companies such as Roche, Genentech, and Astellas, and has been actively responding to client demands by focusing on efficient production of antibody drugs that have reached large-scale commercial production.
Incheon Songdo Samsung Biologics Plant 5 construction site. The company aims to complete it by April 2025. [Photo by Samsung Biologics]
Samsung Biologics is also expanding its production capacity to support this increase in orders. Currently, it holds the largest production capacity among global contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) at 604,000 liters. With the completion of Plant 5, currently under construction and scheduled to start operations in April next year with a capacity of 180,000 liters, the total production capacity will increase to 784,000 liters, further widening the gap.
Moreover, the company plans to build Plants 6 to 8 by 2032, increasing production capacity to 1,324,000 liters. In this context, it has been revealed that Samsung Biologics submitted a sole bid for the sale of an 187,827 square meter industrial facility land near its existing campus, increasing the likelihood of starting a third bio campus.
In the fourth quarter, Samsung Biologics plans to capitalize on the global trend of antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), which are leading the global oncology market. It will complete a dedicated ADC production facility in Songdo, Incheon within the year. Through the Samsung Life Science Fund, formed together with Samsung C&T and Samsung Bioepis, the company has invested in Swiss company Araris and Korean company AimedBio to provide customers with a "toolbox" that offers a variety of options for antibodies, linkers, and cytotoxic drugs.
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