Samsung BioLogics reports $420M in sales for 2017, helped by production boosts from new plants

South Korea’s Samsung BioLogics reported a 56% jump in sales to $420 million (KRW 459.8 billion) for 2017, which the company attributes to boosts from two of its manufacturing facilities.

The company said productivity of its Plant 1 improved while production volume at its Plant 2 facility increased, bolstering Samsung Biologics’ overall rate of operations.

The company also noted that costs related to the opening of its $740 million Plant 3 in Songdo last November will be reflected in 2018 financials.

The good news on the financial front comes in the wake of the company downplaying reports that it would build a fourth plant. Those reports sent its shares soaring last month after it was reported that Samsung BioLogics CEO Kim Tae-han, Ph.D., mentioned the possibility of a fourth plant in an interview during an industry conference. In playing down the remarks, the company said a fourth plant would depend on the success of clinical trials that clients Roche and Biogen are conducting on Alzheimer's drugs that are not expected to be complete until 2019.

In its third-quarter earnings report in October, Samsung BioLogics announced an operating profit for the first time. It said third-quarter operating profit was $18.2 million (KRW 20.5 billion) on $113.4 million (KRW 127.5 billion) in revenues.

The company embarked on a massive expansion seven years ago to become the world’s biggest biologics contract manufacturer that reached a capacity of 362,000 liters when Plant 3 opened. With that opening, the company now has more than 2,000 employees.