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SEOUL, May 6 (Yonhap) -- Celltrion Inc., a major South Korean biopharmaceutical company, said Wednesday its first-quarter net income jumped over threefold from a year earlier, driven by robust performances of its high-margin products.
The company's net profit for the three months ending in March stood at 349.8 billion won (US$238.2 million), a surge of 222.9 percent from a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing.
Operating profit for the January-March period was 321.9 billion won, a jump of 115.4 percent on-year. Sales also rose 36 percent on-year to 1.14 trillion won.
"The significant year-over-year growth achieved in the first quarter, typically considered a slow season, is the result of the full-scale success of our high-margin products' entrance into the market," the company said in a release.
According to the company, sales of its high-margin products more than tripled compared with the same period last year.
The company added that the impact from one-off costs incurred since its acquisition of Celltrion Healthcare Co., the group's sales arm, has been resolved and is seeing improvements in operating profit margins.
Celltrion plans to continue its shareholder return policy, the company also said. It decided to cancel 100 billion won worth of treasury shares it recently purchased at a board meeting held earlier in the day.
The bio firm had previously canceled 9.1 million shares, worth around 1.8 trillion won last month, as part of efforts to boost shareholder returns.
An undated image of a logo of Celltrion Inc. provided by the company. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
fairydust@yna.co.kr
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