Samsung Biologics Posts a Record 2025 as CDMO Orders Top 6 Trillion Won

Samsung Biologics, the biotech arm of Samsung Group, reported fourth-quarter net profit of 453.1 billion won (US$308.2 million), up 74.1% year on year, on the ramp-up of its fourth plant and full-scale operation of plants one through three, Yonhap News Agency reported from Seoul. The quarter closed a record 2025 and set up a 5.32 trillion won sales target for 2026.

The fourth-quarter numbers

In the three months ended December, net profit rose to 453.1 billion won from 260.3 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a press release. Operating income jumped 67.8% to 528.3 billion won from 314.8 billion won, while sales rose 35.3% to 1.28 trillion won from 950.4 billion won. A company spokesperson attributed the quarterly bottom line to the ramp-up of plant No. 4, full-scale operations at plants Nos. 1 through 3 and improved operating efficiency — a combination that turns added capacity into margin rather than into idle depreciation.

A record full year

For all of 2025, net income surged 55.2% to 1.61 trillion won from 1.04 trillion won a year earlier. Operating profit climbed 56.6% to 2.07 trillion won from 1.32 trillion won, and sales increased 30.3% to 4.56 trillion won from 3.49 trillion won. The symmetry of the three growth rates — sales, operating profit and net income all rising by a third to a half — describes a contract manufacturer running existing assets harder rather than buying growth through one-off items.

The order book behind the 2026 target

Biopharmaceutical production plant standing for Samsung Biologics capacity ramp-up in Songdo

The forward story sits in contracts. Samsung Biologics said it signed CDMO contracts with global pharmaceutical companies worth more than 6 trillion won in 2025, exceeding the previous year's order total of 5.4 trillion won. For 2026 the company aims to achieve 5.32 trillion won in sales, supported by large-scale contract development and manufacturing organisation deals — a target that converts last year's order intake into this year's recognised revenue.

What to watch next

Utilisation of plant No. 4 after the ramp-up: the quarter's margin gain depends on keeping new capacity loaded.
The pace of new CDMO signings against the 6 trillion won run-rate set in 2025.
Conversion of the 5.32 trillion won 2026 sales target into quarterly milestones.
Capacity additions beyond the Songdo campus and their financing structure.
The won-dollar rate, which moves the reported dollar value of won-denominated contracts.

For South Korea the result is a reminder of where biopharma value is being created: not only in new molecules but in the manufacturing slots that global drugmakers compete to reserve. A 74% quarterly profit jump on existing plants is the clearest possible signal that those slots are scarce.