[THE INVESTOR] Green Cross is expected to see growth in exports of its plasma derivatives and vaccine products in the second half of the year, a local securities firm said on May 23.

“Its quarterly earnings are expected to increase as vaccines enter the peak season. Prescription drugs, vaccine and blood derivatives are expected to show steady sales growth,” said Kwak Jin-hee, analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities. 

Eugene said the Korean biopharma firm’s second-quarter earnings will meet market expectations, posting an operating profit of 24.7 billion won (US$22 million) in the April-June period, up 2.6 percent from a year earlier and sales of 329.4 billion won, up 8.5 percent.

The business model of Green Cross which is focused on blood products and vaccines is “one of the most robust growth categories among global health care companies,” she said.

Global companies which have a similar business portfolio like GlaxoSmithKline, CSL and Sanofi-Aventis are showing stable growth and share price trend, she added.

In March, Green Cross secured a $32 million deal to supply its flu vaccines to the Pan American Health Organization, a regional office under the World Health Organization.

The deal marked the largest single flu vaccine export deal secured by Green Cross since the company started to export its own flu vaccine products in 2009.

In a bid to tap deeper into the North American market, it plans to complete construction of its new facility in Canada, which will produce intravenous immunoglobulin and albumin, this year.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)