Hanmi Pharm posts record Q2 operating profit of W131.1b, up 117%

Hanmi Pharm posted stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings, driven by a global technology transfer deal and solid domestic pharmaceutical sales.

Hanmi Pharm disclosed Tuesday that its consolidated preliminary results for the second quarter showed sales of 467.2 billion won ($319 million), operating profit of 131.1 billion won and net profit of 84.1 billion won. Compared with the same period a year earlier, sales jumped 29.3 percent, operating profit jumped 116.9 percent and net profit rose 95.5 percent. The company invested 60.3 billion won in research and development, equivalent to 12.9 percent of sales.

Those results pushed Hanmi Pharm's cumulative first-half sales up 14.4 percent year-on-year to 860.2 billion won, with operating profit climbing 54.6 percent to 184.7 billion won — both records for any first half in the company's history. The figures make a full-year sales record since the company's founding appear increasingly likely.

The company said the earnings surprise was driven by strong sales of flagship products, including Rosuzet, a combination drug for dyslipidemia, along with revenue recognition of the upfront payment received from Eli Lilly for the technology transfer of sonepeglutide. First-half outpatient prescription sales, measured by UBIST data, reached 561.6 billion won, cementing Hanmi Pharm's position as South Korea's top outpatient prescription drug company for eight consecutive years. Second-quarter outpatient prescription sales of Rosuzet grew 10.1 percent year-on-year to 61.6 billion won, while the Amozaltan family (37 billion won) and the Esomezol family (14.6 billion won) also maintained steady sales momentum.

The simultaneous inflow of technology transfer revenue alongside conventional drug sales has sharply improved earnings visibility for a major pharmaceutical company — a prime example of the virtuous cycle that R&D investment can generate in South Korea's pharmaceutical and biotech sector.

Hanmi Pharm currently has more than 30 pipeline programs across obesity and metabolic disease, rare diseases and oncology. The company is preparing to commercialize its GLP-1 obesity drug efpeglenatide within the year, and is accelerating clinical development in the United States for next-generation obesity treatments, including a triple agonist (HM15275) and a muscle-preserving obesity treatment (HM17321).

"We are continuing to manage the company in a way that stays true to the essence of the pharmaceutical business, grounded in solid fundamentals," said Hwang Sang-yeon, chief executive of Hanmi Pharm. "We will further enhance corporate value through responsible management and continuous innovation."