Green Cross, a South Korean biopharmaceutical company, said Thursday it posted record-high profits of 1.48 trillion won ($1.23 billion) in sales last year, up 7.4 percent over the previous year.

At the same time, its operating profit declined on-year by 5.5 percent to 91.7 billion won in 2015, while its net profit rose by 10.3 percent on-year to 95.7 billion won. 


The firm cited the decline in its operating profit -- the largest in the industry -- to its expanded research and development spending, which jumped by 27.6 percent in 2015 compared to the year before.

“We posted our highest sales to date on the back of shared success across all of our business segments, as well as success in overseas markets,” Green Cross said in a statement.

Last year, Green Cross’ overseas sales increased by 27 percent on-year to 205.4 billion won, The drugmaker’s vaccine sales jumped by 51.5 percent on-year thanks to successfully winning bids to supply its products to international organizations like the United Nations.

Green Cross’ fourth quarter sales stood at 270 billion won and its operating profit at 500 million won. The firm posted a net loss of 4.9 billion won during the period, which it said was linked to a 52 percent hike in R&D spending at the time.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)