'Oligo Drives Growth': ST Pharm Posts Q1 Sales of 52.4 Billion KRW, Operating Profit of 1 Billion KRW

ST Pharm reported sales of 52.4 billion KRW and operating profit of 1 billion KRW for the first quarter of this year. Compared to the same period last year, sales increased by 1.4%, while operating profit decreased by 45.5%.

Although sales saw a slight increase, operating profit declined due to rising various costs. The company explained, "Compared to the same period last year, cost of goods sold and R&D expenses increased, and an additional in-house employee welfare fund was established." They added, "Net profit decreased year-on-year due to the base effect of higher foreign exchange gains from a stronger exchange rate and higher call option valuation gains from stock price increases in the same period last year."

Sales in the oligonucleotide (oligo) segment, which is a key ingredient for ribonucleic acid (RNA) therapeutics and is seeing increasing order performance, reached 37.6 billion KRW, up 8.9% from the same period last year.

ST Pharm has completed construction of its second oligo plant and is currently conducting validation (process validation). The company expects the plant to begin operations in the fourth quarter of this year.