SK Biopharmaceuticals (326030) Q3 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Achieved strong revenue growth in Q3 2024 and for the first nine months, driven by XCOPRIⓇ (cenobamate) US sales, which accounted for 97.4% of total revenue and outpaced fixed costs, improving operating leverage.

• XCOPRIⓇ US sales grew 7.7% quarter-over-quarter and 49.8% year-over-year, despite temporary impacts from hurricanes.

• Operating profit turned positive year-over-year, reaching 55.7 billion KRW for the first nine months, a turnaround from a loss of 37.5 billion KRW in the previous year.

• Net profit for Q3 was KRW 6.3B, and for the first nine months reached 40.6 billion KRW, compared to a net loss of 35.4 billion KRW in the prior year.

• Expanded global licensing and commercialization of key products, including new agreements in Korea and other regions.

Financial highlights

• Q3 2024 consolidated revenue reached KRW 136.6B, up 1.9% QoQ and 51.2% YoY; revenue for the first nine months was 384.6 billion KRW, up 8.4% YoY.

• Gross profit for Q3 was KRW 120.1B, down 4.1% QoQ but up 43.7% YoY.

• Operating profit margin improved to 14.5% from negative in the previous year.

• R&D expenses totaled 118.0 billion KRW, representing 30.7% of sales.

• Cash and cash equivalents at period-end were 266.0 billion KRW.

Outlook and guidance

• Expecting to reach the upper end of 2024 XCOPRIⓇ US sales guidance ($300M–$320M).

• Plans to accelerate global expansion of cenobamate and advance late-stage clinical pipeline, including carisbamate for rare epilepsy.

• Focus on new technology platforms such as radiopharmaceuticals, targeted protein degradation, and cell/gene therapy.

• Continued investment in AI-driven drug discovery and open innovation partnerships.

• Royalty revenue continues to perform strongly relative to annual guidance.