Samsung Biologics Q3 net income down over 20%

Samsung Biologics, the biotech arm of Samsung Group, on Wednesday reported its third-quarter net profit of 391.1 billion won ($295.2 million), down 21.2 percent from a year earlier. The contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) service provider, which offers comprehensive development and manufacturing solutions, said in a regulatory filing that it posted 640.1 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 633.5 billion won a year ago. Revenue rose 18.5 percent to 1.49 trillion won. The company attributed its sales increase to full-scale operations at four plants in Songdo, just west of Seoul, a ramp-up in production at its fifth plant, as well as sales generated from its first U.S.-based biomanufacturing facility in Rockville, Maryland, acquired in March. The company said it will continue to expand its contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) business, with cumulative contract orders for this year reaching $22 billion. It also raised the company's annual sales guidance this year to 20 percent, from the early estimate of 15 to 20 percent, citing stabl