Dong-A Socio Holdings continued its growth in performance in the third quarter of this year, recording consolidated sales of 382.6 billion won and operating profit of 33.3 billion won. This represents increases of 7.2% and 47.7%, respectively, compared to the same period last year, with the healthcare (Dong-A Pharmaceutical) and bio (CMO) divisions playing a key role in this growth.
The sales expansion in the third quarter was the result of growth in Dong-A Pharmaceutical's OTC (over-the-counter) business, strong performance of its flagship brand Bacchus, and increased commercial supply of biosimilars from ST Pharm Bio. The logistics subsidiary, Yongma Logis, also maintained stable growth by securing new clients and benefiting from increased demand during the holiday season.
The main subsidiary, Dong-A Pharmaceutical, posted sales of 200.1 billion won in the third quarter, up 11.5% year-on-year. Operating profit rose 28.9% to 28.5 billion won. Sales from the OTC business division increased by 28.4% to 57.5 billion won, and the flagship brand Bacchus also rose by 11.7% to 86.7 billion won. In contrast, the living and healthcare products division saw a 6.1% decrease due to sluggish consumer demand.
The bio CMO affiliate, ST Pharm Bio, also showed remarkable improvement in performance. Third-quarter sales surged by 87.7% to 31.5 billion won, and operating profit increased by 114.5% to 1.8 billion won. The company explained that the improvement was driven by the full-scale commercial supply of global biosimilars and an increase in new orders. The industry is paying attention to the fact that ST Pharm Bio has already achieved a cumulative growth rate of 110% this year and has nearly increased its operating profit eightfold.
The logistics subsidiary, Yongma Logis, recorded sales of 109.6 billion won in the third quarter, up 7.2% year-on-year, and operating profit of 6.4 billion won, up 47.5% from the previous year. The influx of new clients and increased freight volume during the Chuseok holiday season contributed to this, and the carryover effect from settlement with some clients also helped improve profits.
The cumulative performance for the third quarter continued to improve as well. Dong-A Socio Holdings' cumulative sales from January to September reached 1.0579 trillion won, up 7.3% from the same period last year. During the same period, operating profit increased by 35.4% to 81.8 billion won. In particular, ST Pharm Bio posted cumulative sales of 75.6 billion won, up 110% year-on-year, and operating profit surged from 1.2 billion won to 8 billion won, a 560.6% increase, further strengthening its role as a new growth engine within the group.
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