Samsung Biologics Co., the biotech arm of South Korea's Samsung Group, on Monday reported its first-quarter net profit fell slightly due to a one-off factor stemming from a takeover last year.

Its net income reached 141.8 billion won (US$106.2 million) in the January-March period, down 3.5 percent from the 146.9 billion won tallied a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Operating income stood at 191.7 billion won for the first three months of 2023, up 8.7 percent from 176.4 billion won a year ago. Sales rose 41 percent on-year to 720.9 billion won from 511.3 billion won.

The earnings beat market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 132.9 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

Samsung Biologics said the on-year decline in the first-quarter net profit is attributable to a merger with Samsung Bioepis, a biopharmaceutical affiliate dedicated to developing and manufacturing biosimilar medicines, last year.

But it noted that the steady growth in the contract development and manufacturing organization business contributed to a 41 percent jump in its quarterly sales and an 8.7 percent gain in operating profit.

Samsung Biologics, which had earlier announced plans to expand its biomedicine production facilities in Songdo, west of Seoul, said it is expected to post an annual sales figure of 3.5 trillion won for 2023.

Shares in Samsung Biologics gained 1.53 percent to 797,000 won on the main Seoul bourse Monday, outperforming the broader KOSPI's 0.82 percent fall. The earnings results were released after the stock markets closed.

Source: Yonhap News Agency