[Edaily Reporter KIM SAE-MI ] Pharmicell(005690)reported double-digit growth in both revenue and operating profit for the second quarter of this year, driven by the expansion of its electronic materials business.

Pharmicell announced on the 12th that its operating profit for the second quarter of this year surged 62% year-over-year to 13.2 billion won. During the same period, revenue rose 45.7% to 39.0 billion won, and net income increased 40.5% to 10.4 billion won.

Cumulative revenue for the first half of the year reached 75.7 billion won, a 40.7% increase compared to the same period last year. Operating profit rose 59.0% to 26.3 billion won, and net profit increased 39.4% to 22.1 billion won. The operating profit margin for the first half stood at 34.8%, up approximately 4 percentage points (p) from 30.8% in the same period last year.

This earnings growth was driven by the Biochemical business. The Biochemical division’s first-half revenue reached 74.1 billion won, a 40.9% increase from 52.6 billion won in the same period last year. Operating profit also rose by 47.0%, from 19.9 billion won to 29.2 billion won. The Biochemical division produces and sells fine chemical products and biochemical products.

Pharmicell explained that the growth in earnings was driven by increased sales of electronic materials used in advanced information technology (IT) infrastructure, as well as stable sales of pharmaceutical raw materials such as nucleosides and mPEG.

The Biomedical business also saw revenue growth and a narrowing of its deficit. Revenue for the Biomedical Division—which includes stem cell therapies, adult stem cell storage, and cosmetics—reached 1.6 billion won in the first half of the year, a 31.1% increase from 1.2 billion won in the same period last year. The operating loss narrowed from 3.3 billion won to 2.8 billion won over the same period. This was due to an overall increase in sales of stem cell therapies, cosmetics, and contract manufacturing (CMO) and contract testing services.

By region, revenue growth in Asia was particularly notable. First-half revenue in Asia reached 17.9 billion won, approximately a fourfold increase from the 4.5 billion won recorded in the same period last year. Revenue in the U.S. also rose by 141.5%, from 1.8 billion won to 4.4 billion won. Domestic revenue increased by 23.6% to 49.6 billion won, while revenue in Europe decreased by 48.1% to 3.8 billion won.

Revenue from major clients also increased. According to the interim report, three clients accounted for more than 10% of total revenue in the first half of the year. Revenue from Client A reached 28.2 billion won, up from 22.3 billion won in the same period last year. It is also noteworthy that Client B, which did not qualify as a top 10% client in the same period last year, generated 17.8 billion won in revenue. Revenue from Client C totaled 7.6 billion won.

Along with this earnings growth, investments to expand production facilities are continuing. Pharmicell’s assets under construction increased from 11.6 billion won at the end of last year to 20.0 billion won as of the end of June this year. This means the company invested 8.6 billion won in acquiring assets under construction during the first half alone. The company explained that this investment is related to the ongoing factory expansion.

A Pharmicell official stated, “Both revenue and operating profit expanded, driven by growth in our core electronic materials business and improvements in our bio business,” adding, “We will continue this growth momentum in the second half by strengthening our competitiveness in electronic materials and expanding our bio CMO business.”