April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] ChongKunDang Pharmaceutical will beat earnings prospects and will continue to grow, said Shinhan Investment on Dec. 21, maintaining a “buy” recommendation and 160,000 won (US$148.29) target price. 

Propelled by strong sales of major products, including human cognitive abilities improver Gliatirin and cardiovascular combination therapy Atozet, its fourth-quarter revenue will be record 229.2 billion won, up 4.3 percent on-year, forecast analyst Bae Gi-dal.

Its operating profit, however, will come in at 20.5 billion won, up 1.5 percent on-year, as the pharmaceutical company increased investments in R&D to 26.9 billion won, said the analyst. 

Its revenue next year will increase 8.8 percent from this year to 945.7 billion won and operating profit by 5.3 percent to 81.5 billion won, he estimated.
Its operating profit ratio is high among major pharmaceutical companies and it is preparing for future growth by investing over 100 billion won a year in R&D, Bae pointed out, adding that its rheumatoid arthritis therapy CKD-506 is expected to enter the second phase of global clinical trials. 

By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)