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Earnings

Companies listed on tech-heavy Kosdaq score high in Q3 on pandemic

By Nov 19, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)

2 Min read

South Korean companies listed on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market posted one of their best third quarters ever thanks to strong sales related to anti-virus products amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Non-contact, non-face-to-face companies in particular have seen a significant increase in their operating profits, according to a report by the Korea Exchange and Korea Listed Companies Association on Nov. 18.

Companies listed on tech-heavy Kosdaq score high in Q3 on pandemic

The third-quarter combined revenue of 958 companies listed on the junior market was 50.67 trillion won ($45.6 million) on a consolidated basis, up 5.3% from the same period a year earlier. Their combined operating profit rose 31.4% on year to 3.55 trillion won. Net profit gained 3.9% to 2.24 trillion won.

Compared to the second quarter, their revenue rose 10.5%, with a 15.9% increase in operating profit and a 51.7% gain in net profit.

For the first nine months of the year, the Kosdaq-listed companied posted a 2.2% rise in sales and a 5.5% increase in operating profit from a year earlier. But net profit fell 9%.

COVID-19 TEST KIT MAKERS SCORE HIGHEST

Among the Kosdaq companies, diagnostic reagent maker Seegen Inc. scored the biggest boost from the coronavirus outbreak.

The company posted 189.2 billion won in third-quarter operating profit, with an operating margin of 64.9%. Seegen attributed its stellar performance to surging exports of coronavirus test kits.

Companies listed on tech-heavy Kosdaq score high in Q3 on pandemic

Other biopharmaceutical companies also reported strong results in the July-September quarter. Celltrion Healthcare, the distribution unit of biosimilar maker Celltrion Inc., was the second-best performer with 186.4 billion won in operating profit.

Information technology companies have also blossomed during the coronavirus crisis on increased stay-at-home remote work.

More than a third of IT companies reported their combined third-quarter sales and net profit rose 17.2% and 89.2% from a year earlier, respectively.

Even the accommodation and restaurant industry, hit hard by the pandemic, showed an improvement, with their sales rising 25.1% from the previous year.

But some industries remained bearish. The agricultural industry saw a 20% revenue decline, while entertainment fell 9.2%. The construction sector shed 7.5%.

Of the 958 Kosdaq-listed firms, 591 companies or 61.7% of the total, posted profits in the third quarter, while the remaining firms reported losses.

Some 590 companies listed on the main Kospi market also reported decent earnings in the third quarter, with some market analysts predicting that the benchmark index will rise above 2,700 points next year, compared to 2,545.64 at Wednesday's close.

Write to Jin-Hyoung Cho and Kyeong-je Han at U2@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.
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