JVM, a subsidiary of Hanmi Pharmaceutical, said Tuesday that it recorded 30.7 billion won ($27.4 million) in sales in the fourth quarter of last year, a 16.1 percent increase from the same period in 2017.

The company also registered 4.1 billion won in operating profit, up 28.4 percent from 2017, while posting a net loss of 71 million won. Total sales in 2018 were 103.6 billion won, up 2.4 percent from 2017.

Exports during the fourth quarter of last year reached 16.4 billion won, a 22.5 percent increase from the previous year. “The sluggish exports, which had been the main cause of poor earnings until the third quarter, were resolved,” the company said.

The company also invested 8 billion won into R&D, which accounted for 7.8 percent of the annual sales and marked a 70 percent increase from the previous year’s 5.6 billion won. In particular, the company spent 30.4 percent of R&D fund of last year in the fourth quarter.

“We are stepping up our global business by expanding sales in North America’s long term care market, restructuring in Europe, and normalizing relations with our Chinese distributors,” a company official said.

corea022@docdocdoc.co.kr

<© Korea Biomedical Review, All rights reserved.>