[Click eStock] "Hugel, Successful Stock Value-Up... Continued Profit Growth"

Korea Investment & Securities recently forecasted on the 5th that Hugel, which succeeded in a stock price value-up strategy through its own stock repurchase, will continue its profit growth trend supported by sales in the United States.

Hugel is a company that develops and manufactures biopharmaceuticals based on botulinum toxin. It mainly utilizes type A botulinum toxin made from the microorganism Clostridium botulinum. Its flagship product is Botulax (exported to the U.S. under the name 'Retivo'). On the 1st of last month, Retivo received product approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The hyaluronic acid filler (HA filler) brand 'The Chaeum' is also gaining popularity.

Analyst Wei Jooju of Korea Investment & Securities estimated in a report on the same day that Hugel achieved sales of 78.5 billion KRW and operating profit of 27.6 billion KRW in the first quarter. These figures represent increases of 21.9% and 48.9%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. He stated, "The export-driven growth trend centered on toxin products will continue," and predicted, "With increased exports to the U.S., as well as Canada, Australia, Thailand, Japan, and Brazil, the performance growth of toxin products will accelerate."

The analyst added, "Since January last year, Hugel has repurchased its own shares worth a total of 150 billion KRW, and has succeeded in stock price value-up by canceling about 54.5 billion KRW worth of shares. As of the end of last year, it holds net cash of 388 billion KRW, making additional stock repurchases possible depending on business conditions or market situations."

He further commented, "If Hugel concretely reveals its somewhat delayed U.S. market entry strategy in the second quarter of this year, positive stock price momentum driven by expectations of U.S. sales will continue," and added, "Once the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) related lawsuit, with a preliminary ruling expected in June, concludes, the reduction in litigation costs will also decrease uncertainty regarding profitability."

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