Celltrion Holdings CI (Source: Celltrion Group)

[Kim Saemi, Edaily Reporter] Celltrion Group’s holding company, Celltrion Holdings (Holdings), said on Nov. 10 it will purchase an additional \338.2 billion worth of Celltrion shares.

In July, Holdings unveiled a large stock-purchase plan to improve profitability and enhance the corporate value of its subsidiary, Celltrion. Actual purchases through October totaled about \535.9 billion.

On Oct. 28, Holdings also flagged a further buying program of roughly \288.0 billion. Today’s decision increases that planned amount by more than \50.0 billion. Including the newly announced tranche, Holdings’ Celltrion share purchases this year come to \874.1 billion in total.

The additional buying reflects Holdings’ investment view of Celltrion’s growth prospects. By investing boldly in a subsidiary it sees as significantly undervalued relative to intrinsic value, Holdings aims to raise shareholder value and, by increasing its stake, secure profitability gains such as larger expected dividends.

Efforts to bolster shareholder value span the entire group, including the largest shareholder. Celltrion, the operating company, has carried out nine rounds of treasury-share purchases this year totaling about \850.0 billion and has canceled roughly \900.0 billion of its treasury stock.

In July, Celltrion Group Chairman Seo Jung-jin bought about \50.0 billion of Celltrion shares, while affiliate Celltrion Skincure purchased roughly \50.0 billion. Celltrion employees also joined in, buying about \40.0 billion through the employee stock ownership plan. With Holdings’ newly announced purchases completed, groupwide buying of Celltrion shares this year will total about \1.85 trillion.

The company says these moves are grounded in confidence about future growth. On a consolidated basis, Celltrion posted third-quarter revenue of \1.029 trillion and operating profit of \301.4 billion. Operating profit rose 52.1% year-over-year on strong sales of high-margin new products, surpassing \300.0 billion in a quarter for the first time.

The cost-of-sales ratio, which stood around 63% right after the December 2023 merger with Celltrion Healthcare (the dissolved entity), has kept improving and entered the 30% range in the third quarter of this year. With the merger-related impact―such as clearing out higher-cost inventory―now fading, earnings are expected to accelerate. Growth should steepen further as high-margin new products expand and new products roll out in key markets.

Given the clear uptrend in Celltrion’s results, Holdings expects the market to assign a more normal valuation in due course. If market conditions stabilize, it plans to determine the timing for disposing of shares newly acquired in the second half of this year in a manner that minimizes market burden, as part of efforts to streamline the holding company’s business structure and improve capital efficiency.

A Celltrion Group official said, “Temporary profit-pressure factors that arose during the merger process are expected to be reflected through the third quarter of 2025 and largely resolved by then,” adding, “This acquisition is expected to be effectively the final step.” The official also said the company may consider additional purchases if market volatility becomes excessive or if abnormal short-selling persists, and will review such actions flexibly.