Pharma and Bio Firms See 30% Jump in Q1 Operating Cash Flow

The operating cash flow for major listed pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the first quarter of this year recorded 1.5372 trillion won, a 34.66% increase compared to the same period last year. This indicator, which shows how well companies are earning money from their core business, suggests an improvement in the financial health of many pharmaceutical and bio companies.

According to an analysis of data from the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system by Medipana News, 60 out of 94 surveyed companies generated cash from operating activities, and 52 companies saw their operating cash flow improve year-on-year.

Samsung Biologics (767.7 billion won) and Celltrion (238.2 billion won) drove the overall cash generation scale. The combined operating cash flow of these two companies amounted to 1.0059 trillion won, accounting for 65.4% of the total surveyed. In addition to Samsung Biologics and Celltrion, Hanmi Pharmaceutical (111.6 billion won) and ST Pharm (103.1 billion won) also recorded operating cash inflows exceeding 100 billion won. A total of four companies surpassed 100 billion won in operating cash flow in the first quarter.

Fourteen companies saw their operating cash flow turn from an outflow in the previous year's first quarter to an inflow this year. Among them, ABL Bio showed the largest improvement, shifting from a 28.4 billion won outflow in Q1 last year to a 32.8 billion won inflow this year.