April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s financial regulator plans to wrap up a yearlong special audit of Samsung BioLogics this month, according to officials on April 2.

“We don’t rule out the possibility of not filing charges against Samsung BioLogics,” a Financial Supervisory Service official was quoted as saying. Samsung BioLogics declined to comment, but did confirm that the audit is likely to end soon.

In April last year, the FSS announced that it would conduct a detailed audit on the Samsung-owned contract drug manufacturer for alleged discrepancies in its financial statements that were brought to attention by local political parties and civic groups.

Critics have questioned how Samsung BioLogics, which has been unprofitable since its foundation in 2011, suddenly reported a net profit of 1.9 trillion won (US$1.80 billion) based on a revaluation of its stake in its subsidiary Samsung Bioepis in 2015.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)