[Newsmp] Last year, the average sales growth rate of Japanese pharmaceutical companies operating in Korea was only 1.4%. Operating profit increased by only 6.2%.
In particular, the sluggishness of big companies was noticeable. Among them, the first to third place in sales in 2020 (business year) showed negative growth.
Astellas Pharma Korea, which was the leader among Japanese pharmaceutical companies operating in Korea with sales of KRW 265.7 billion in 2020, fell 7.2% to KRW 246.5 billion.
Followed by Astellas Pharma Korea, Takeda Korea’s sales also declined 8.3% to KRW 231.6 billion, and this brought the sales below the KRW 250 billion mark for both companies, posting negative growth of over 5%.
Eisai Korea also suffered, sliding 4.0% from KRW 221.9 billion to KRW 212.9 billion during the same period.
On the other hand, Daiichi Sankyo Korea, which entered the KRW 200 billion mark with KRW 217.9 billion in sales in 2020, grew 12.6% to KRW 245.4 billion, narrowing the gap with Astellas Pharma Korea to KRW 1.1 billion.
Otsuka Korea also surpassed KRW 200 billion with a close double-digit growth rate (9.7%), while Santen Korea posted 5.7% with KRW 108.9 billion, Kyowa Kirin Korea 5.9% with 79.5 billion, and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma 5.8% with KRW 69.7 billion, recording a growth rate over 5%.
Moreover, sales of Ono Pharma Korea soared 31.3% from KRW 31 billion to KRW 40.7 billion.
Operating profit also showed a similar trend. Astellas Pharma Korea, Takeda Korea, and Eisai Korea, which saw their sales shrink, all have reduced their operating profit.
But Daiichi Sankyo Korea’s operating profit increased by 47.5%, Kyowa Kirin Korea by 67.6%, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma by 26.7%, and Ono Pharma Korea by 17.0%, recording a double-digit growth rate.
On the contrary, Otsuka Korea’s operating profit fell 6.2% despite near double-digit sales growth.
Nevertheless, Otsuka Korea had the largest operating profit of KRW 38.6 billion, followed by Daiichi Sankyo Korea with KRW 26.2 billion, Eisai Korea with KRW 22.8 billion, Santen Korea with KRW 15.9 billion, and Astellas Pharma Korea with KRW 15.2 billion.
In addition, Takeda Korea recorded an operating profit of KRW 8 billion, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma of KRW 6.8 billion, Kyowa Kirin Korea of KRW 6.7 billion, and Ono Pharma Korea o KRW 3 billion.
