S.Korea's Celltrion hits nearly 1-year low on lacklustre Q3 earnings

Celltrion Pharm

12/11/2018 03:27

(Adds comment from Celltrion official)
    ** Shares of South Korea's largest biopharma firm Celltrion
Inc  068270.KS  tumble as much as 11.1 pct, their lowest
intraday trading level since Dec 27, 2017
    ** Celltrion on Friday said its July-Sept quarter operating
profit slumped 44.2 pct from a year earlier to 73.6 bln won
($65.2 mln) 
    ** Reduced selling price per unit for Celltrion's Truxima,
an anti-cancer biosimilar, and a temporary shutdown of its first
plant caused the company's profit to slump, says Bae Ki-dal,
analyst at Shinhan Investment Corp
    ** Company reduced the selling price for its biosimilar to
boost market share rapidly and temporarily shut down plant due
to expansion activities, a Celltrion official says
    ** The temporary shutdown of the plant was a minor reason
for the third-quarter operating profit to decline, but
operations will remain suspended throughout the first half of
2019, the official added 
    ** Co's fourth-quarter sales are expected to rise 13.4 pct
as operations of the first plant will be normalised in 2019, but
operating profit is likely to drop 3.5 pct as production costs
escalate, adds Seo Keun-hee, analyst at Samsung Securities
    ** Celltrion HealthCare Co Ltd  091990.KQ , the marketing
unit of biosimilar developer Celltrion, falls as much as 7.8
pct, lowest since Nov 13, 2017
    ** Shares in Celltrion Pharm Inc  068760.KQ , another
Celltrion unit, down as much as 8.8 pct, set to extend losses
into fifth session
    ** The sub-index for medical supplies  .KS32  falls up to
9.1 pct
    ** Broader market  .KS11  down 0.2 pct, as of 0314 GMT
    
    ($1 = 1,129.4000 won)

 ((joori.roh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))