[Click eStock] "Daewon Pharmaceutical, Strong Sales Due to Flu Epidemic"

On the 24th, Kiwoom Securities analyzed that Daewon Pharmaceutical "showed remarkable sales growth in major respiratory disease products at the end of the year, and the subsidiary restructuring is also in its final stage." Despite the fourth-quarter performance falling short of expectations, the investment opinion 'Buy' and the target stock price of 18,000 KRW were maintained.

According to Kiwoom Securities' consolidated financial statements for the fourth quarter, sales increased by 3.0% year-on-year to 145.1 billion KRW. However, operating profit decreased sharply by 84.6% to 1 billion KRW. This was due to the significant reduction in consolidated operating profit reflecting the performance of subsidiaries such as SD Bioscience, acquired in November 2023.

Regarding subsidiaries, the restructuring is in its final stage. The health supplement subsidiary has been improving cost structure and quality. The cosmetics subsidiary will launch products through offline distribution channels such as Olive Young and Daiso in the first quarter.

Daewon Pharmaceutical signed a domestic product distribution contract for AstraZeneca's asthma treatments 'Symbicort' and 'Pulmicort,' which is expected to add more than 20 billion KRW in annual sales.

Shin Minsu, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said, "As a leader in respiratory diseases, sales of major products such as 'Pelubi' and 'Kodaewon' stood out due to the flu epidemic continuing through the year-end and New Year holidays," adding, "This year, after completing subsidiary restructuring, sales are expected to increase by 12% year-on-year, and operating profit margin to reach 6%, driven by steady sales of respiratory products and the introduction of new products."

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