Dong-A Socio Group's quarterly earnings beat forecasts as ST Pharm's API CDMO growth and Dong-A ST's record revenue added to strong OTC drug and logistics performance.
Dong-A Socio Group posted second-quarter earnings above market expectations, led by strong growth in over-the-counter drugs, logistics, and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Dong-A Socio Holdings reported consolidated revenue of ₩412.4 billion, up 18.9% from a year earlier, and operating profit of ₩39 billion, up 38.3%, well ahead of FnGuide consensus forecasts of ₩374.9 billion in revenue and ₩27.1 billion in operating profit. Within the group, Dong-A Pharmaceutical drove much of the improvement as Bacchus and other OTC products gained momentum. Revenue rose 25.7% to ₩228.2 billion and operating profit increased 26.6% to ₩30.2 billion. Bacchus revenue climbed 26.6% to ₩87.8 billion, OTC revenue jumped 36.5% to ₩74.5 billion, and health functional food sales rose 4.4% to ₩52 billion. Logistics unit Yongma Logis also expanded, with revenue up 19.7% to ₩120.5 billion and operating profit up 41.6% to ₩6.9 billion, while biopharmaceutical CMO company Vitizen saw weaker first-half results as major customer orders were weighted to the second half. ST Pharm maintained its strong trajectory. Second-quarter consolidated revenue rose 58.9% to ₩108.5 billion, operating profit increased 41.7% to ₩18.3 billion, and net profit jumped 145.0% to ₩13.2 billion as commercialization volumes expanded in oligonucleotides and small molecule compounds. The oligonucleotide segment grew 83.1% to ₩79.6 billion and the small molecule compound segment rose 199% to ₩19.9 billion. Analysts say demand may also be benefiting from the U.S. Biosecure Act, which is shifting some oligonucleotide outsourcing away from Chinese biotech firms. ST Pharm secured eight new oligonucleotide projects in the first half, is targeting at least seven more in the second half, and had an oligonucleotide backlog of about $300 million, or roughly ₩440 billion, at the end of June, with about 80% tied to commercial-stage projects. Dong-A ST, which is not a consolidated subsidiary of Dong-A Socio Holdings, posted record standalone quarterly revenue of ₩207.8 billion and operating profit of ₩10.9 billion. Growth was driven by ethical drugs, overseas sales including Bacchus and darbepoetin alfa exports, and digital healthcare. The company said it expects further momentum in the second half from the domestic launch of epilepsy drug Xcopri, while development work across the group also continued in MASH, obesity, HIV, and oncology pipelines.