Orient Bio Returns to Operating Profit in Q1 on Cost Structure Improvements

Orient Bio's operating profit turned to a surplus in the first quarter of this year.

On August 18, Orient Bio announced that its operating profit on a standalone basis for the first quarter amounted to 100 million won. This marks a significant improvement from an operating loss of 1.6 billion won in the same period last year, resulting in a return to profitability. Net profit for the period was 4.8 billion won, due mainly to the reversal of provisions for bad debts.

This quarter's performance improvement reflects aggressive cost reduction efforts built upon a strong domestic sales base for laboratory animals. In particular, the company succeeded in improving its cost structure through cost savings from production efficiency and effective expenditure management. Operating expenses, including the cost of goods sold as well as selling and administrative expenses, totaled approximately 6.5 billion won, a decrease of 29.7% compared to 9.3 billion won in the same period last year.

The company is pursuing further cost reductions through additional production efficiency, while strengthening its competitiveness in the laboratory animal and non-clinical trial (CRO) businesses. Firstly, it decided to integrate the operation of the Gapyeong No. 1 and No. 2 centers to enhance utilization of facilities and staff. In the laboratory animal business, the company has started production of rabbits, in addition to rodents and beagles, through technological alliances with global companies. It is also expanding its primate CRO business in cooperation with affiliate Orient CAM, which has the ability to breed and supply primates.

An Orient Bio official stated, "We achieved a turnaround to operating profit by actively improving our cost structure and leveraging the competitiveness of our bio infrastructure business. We will continue to strengthen our competitiveness in the laboratory animal and CRO businesses, and devote ourselves to increasing corporate value by focusing on new businesses, such as artificial intelligence (AI) bio platforms and new drug research and development."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.