[Edaily Reporter NA EUN-KYUNG ] Celltrion(068270)will purchase an additional 100 billion won worth of treasury stock. This marks the fifth such purchase decision this year, bringing the cumulative planned purchase amount to 500 billion won. The company plans to seek shareholder input at next year’s annual general meeting to decide whether to cancel the treasury stock or increase cash dividends.

Celltrion announced on the 26th that it held a board of directors meeting and decided to acquire 514,404 shares of its own stock for approximately 100 billion won. The acquisition period will run from the 27th of this month through January 26 of next year, and the shares will be purchased on the open market.

Following its decisions in April and May of this year to repurchase 100 billion won worth of treasury stock each, Celltrion announced plans for repurchases of the same scale in August and September. Including this additional repurchase, the total number of treasury shares the company has decided to repurchase this year amounts to 2,649,666 shares, valued at approximately 500 billion won.

Celltrion’s share buybacks have been ongoing since 2022. According to the company, it purchased approximately 886 billion won worth of shares in 2023 and approximately 534.6 billion won worth in 2024. Last year, it also continued to buy back and cancel shares worth hundreds of billions of won.

This year, the company has also been proactive in canceling treasury shares. Following the cancellation of approximately 1.8 trillion won worth of treasury shares last April, it decided in September to cancel an additional 100 billion won worth. While buying back shares increases the company’s stock holdings, canceling them reduces the number of outstanding shares, thereby increasing the value per share.

However, it has not yet been decided whether the treasury shares purchased this time will be canceled. Celltrion plans to solicit shareholder input at the annual general meeting of shareholders next March and, after considering finalized annual earnings and distributable profits, select the option—between share cancellation and increased cash dividends—that offers the greatest shareholder return.

Since last August, Celltrion has been adhering to a medium- to long-term principle of allocating one-third of its annual consolidated net income to shareholder returns. The company’s policy is to determine the scale and method of returns by considering its earnings, cash flow, and plans for research and development (R&D) and capital expenditures.

This additional buyback took place amid a trend of improving earnings. Celltrion’s preliminary third-quarter results for this year show revenue of 1.5 trillion won and operating profit of 510 billion won. The company explained that profitability is improving as biosimilar prescriptions expand in the global market and the sales share of high-margin new products increases.

A Celltrion spokesperson stated, “We will consistently adhere to our mid- to long-term principle of returning one-third of consolidated net income to shareholders while ensuring that investments for the company’s growth proceed without a hitch.”