(LEAD) Samsung Biologics swings to black in Q2 on costs, increased sales

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By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, July 21 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Biologics, a biopharmaceutical unit of South Korea's largest conglomerate Samsung Group, said Tuesday that it shifted to the black in the second quarter from a year earlier, as costs decreased on the back of an improvement in factory utilization and increased sales.

The company posted a net profit of 52 billion won (US$43.4 million) during the April-June period, swinging from a net loss of 13.4 billion won a year earlier, the company said.

Operating profit for the cited period was 81.1 billion, compared with a loss of 15.4 billion won a year ago, the company said. Sales also nearly tripled to 307.7 billion won.

The bio giant attributed its sound business performance to utilization improvement at its three plants in Songdo, west of Incheon, which eventually led to increased sales.

Samsung Biologics said it is considering building a fourth plant following major deals.

The company has inked a combined 1.8 trillion won worth of deals to manufacture products for major global pharmaceutical giants during the first half of this year.

Among the lineup is a tie-up deal with multinational drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc. (GSK) to manufacture a GSK biosimilar product.

Under the contract manufacturing organization agreement, Samsung Biologics will commercially produce GSK's lupus treatment, Benlysta, starting in 2022. The eight-year contract is valued at more than $231 million.

The company said it has also been effectively responding to the new coronavirus pandemic to ensure a stable supply and operations for sustainable services to clients.

Shares of Samsung Biologics increased 1.49 percent to end at 750,000 won on the Seoul bourse Tuesday. The earnings results were released after the market closed.

khj@yna.co.kr
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