[Click e-Stock] "Celltrion: Growing Profits and Expanding New Drug Pipeline"

4Q Operating Margin Reaches 33%
Driven by Increased Share of New Products

There are expectations that Celltrion will see a continued upward trend in its quarterly performance, driven by stable results from existing products and a full-fledged growth in new products.

On the 26th, IBK Investment & Securities maintained its target price for Celltrion at 230,000 won and its investment rating as 'Buy', citing these factors. The previous day's closing price was 182,500 won.

The company’s consolidated earnings forecast for this year is 4.17 trillion won in sales and 1.135 trillion won in operating profit. This represents an increase of 17.2% and 130.6%, respectively, compared to the previous year. For the fourth quarter alone, sales are estimated at 1.3373 trillion won and operating profit at 441.3 billion won. These figures are expected to show sharp growth, up 25.7% and 124.7% year-on-year, respectively.

The company is projected to see not only stable performance from its existing products-Remsima IV, Truxima, and Herzuma-but also a full reflection of growth from new products.

Profit margins are expected to continue improving due to several factors: the depletion of Celltrion Healthcare's inventory, an increased proportion of high-margin new products such as Yuflyma, Begzelma, and Stekyma, the production of improved versions of existing products with higher manufacturing yields, and the completion of development amortization. These factors underpin the expectation that the fourth quarter operating margin will reach 33.0%, up 3.7 percentage points from the previous quarter.

The company is also expanding its new drug portfolio based on open innovation. Through various collaborations with domestic and international biotech companies, Celltrion has secured three antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidates, three multi-specific antibodies, an ADC platform, and an AI platform. The main therapeutic areas are oncology and autoimmune diseases. Having accumulated direct sales experience in these fields through biosimilars, the company is expected to leverage this direct sales network for new drugs in the future.

Jung Isu, a researcher at IBK Securities, explained, "Once the revenue from contract manufacturing (CMO) is reflected following the completion of Eli Lilly's U.S. plant acquisition, there is ample room for an upward revision in performance."