[Click eStock] "Celltrion Healthcare, Q2 Earnings Normalize... The Second Half Is Key"

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Shinhan Financial Investment maintained its investment opinion of 'Buy' and target price of 140,000 KRW for Celltrion Healthcare on the 8th, expecting the second-quarter earnings to normalize.

The second-quarter earnings are expected to be solid, in line with market consensus. Shinhan Financial Investment estimated Celltrion Healthcare's second-quarter consolidated sales to increase by 2.9% year-on-year to 432.6 billion KRW, and operating profit to decrease by 1.2% to 85.8 billion KRW. This is consistent with the consensus (sales of 470.9 billion KRW, operating profit of 96.8 billion KRW). Researcher Lee Dong-geon of Shinhan Financial Investment explained, "The notable point is that the sales of Truxima for North America, which temporarily plummeted in the first quarter due to the finished product process being conducted in Europe, have fully recovered," adding, "Second-quarter Truxima sales are expected to increase by more than 65% quarter-on-quarter to 181.2 billion KRW." In particular, since Truxima for North America is a highly profitable product, an increase in operating profit margin is also expected due to the sales recovery.

Opinions suggest that the second half of the year will be key for direction. The consolidated sales and operating profit for this year are estimated to increase by 30.3% and 22.5% year-on-year to 2.1212 trillion KRW and 443.4 billion KRW, respectively. Sales of Inflectra in the U.S. are expected to continue growing positively, influenced by the exclusion of the original product Remicade from the preferred drug list of UnitedHealth, the largest private insurer in the U.S., since February this year. North American Truxima sales are also expected to expand growth gradually in the second half after bottoming out in the first quarter due to a temporary issue. Researcher Lee said, "There is also potential for sales growth of follow-up products such as Remsima SC, Uplyma, and Requiona with the full-scale entry into the European market in the second half, so there is a possibility of further upward revision of earnings estimates depending on future performance."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.