GC and its affiliates managed to increase its sales in the second quarter of this year despite losing a substantial amount in operating profits, the company said Tuesday.

According to the company, it registered 314.8 billion won ($281.6 million) in sales in the second quarter, a 3.5 percent increase from the same period in 2017, but posted only 13.3 billion won in operating profit, a 61.5 percent decrease from a year ago.

“The reason for the drastic drop in profitability is because the company’s R&D expenses increased by 18.9 percent over the same period of the previous year, while exports of its flu vaccines decreased in the southern hemisphere due to intensified competition,” GC said.

Despite a massive loss in its operating profit, however, the company plans to maintain its aggressive R&D investment stance, which is up 30 percent from last year.

GC plans to target the global market with its blood product and vaccine as the domestic market is saturated. The company is expecting rapid earnings rebound as the export of GC vaccines is expanding into individual national public markets, GC said.

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