Celltrion (068270.KS) Chairman Suh Jung-jin attended the company's 35th annual general meeting on Thursday and emphasized that international geopolitical tensions are not affecting Celltrion. He explained that ongoing business operations remain largely unaffected and that revenue will grow this year.
"The world has become so complicated that I decided it would be better to explain directly how much and what kind of impact our group is receiving," Suh said at the shareholder meeting held at Songdo Convensia. "I will process the agenda items swiftly and answer all questions during the Q&A session."
Celltrion had previously announced through a board resolution that Suh would personally chair this year's AGM amid growing global economic uncertainty stemming from the Iran conflict and expanding geopolitical risks in the Middle East.
In his opening remarks before the agenda vote, Suh said, "Our company is export-oriented, so oil prices have no impact on us." He added, "We are primarily in the prescription drug business, which is not affected by economic cycles." Because patients cannot forgo prescription medications for treatment, the current international situation does not affect Celltrion, he explained.
"Our main business arenas are advanced markets such as the United States, Europe and Japan, so there is nothing that would affect our revenue," Suh stressed.
However, he noted that as India began entering the biosimilar market and started dumping, competitors followed suit, and the company fell short of its internally set revenue target last year. "So we drew up this year's business plan conservatively," Suh said. "We expect quarterly revenue to keep jumping this year."
"We have already done a preliminary close for the first quarter, and it is not below market expectations," he said. "Revenue will climb further in the second and third quarters."