Kolon Life Science (102940) 🔎 In-depth
KOSDAQ · Price as of 2026-08-06 · Updated 2026-08-09
Kolon Life Science runs a chemical business that makes and sells active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for synthetic drugs such as antibiotics and anti-inflammatory painkillers, along with semiconductor and electronic materials, and it develops biologic new drugs led by Invossa (TG-C), a cell and gene therapy for degenerative arthritis. Revenue reached ₩209.0 billion in 2025, up 29.5% year on year, and the company swung back into the black after losses in 2023-2024, posting operating profit of ₩17.6 billion and net profit of ₩25.0 billion; it followed up with net profit of ₩20.8 billion in the first quarter of 2026. What stands out lately is that while the direction — revenue growth and a return to profit — is clear, a large share of earnings came from one-off gains such as consideration for transferring electronic-materials technology; so the steady profitability of the core API business and the outcome of Invossa's (TG-C) U.S. clinical trials will decide the real scorecard ahead.
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30-second brief
Pulled directly from the computed values below — not a separately written opinion.
What do the SourceComputedEstimateReading tags mean?
Source filings and exchange data · Computed calculated from public data · Estimate our own unverified projection · Reading drafted automatically, then rule-checked. See AI & Automation.
Core valuation metric
This stock's effective sub-sector is “Pharmaceuticals (profitable)” (Biotech & Pharmaceuticals), a type typically read first through P/E.
Established, profit-generating drugmakers earn fairly steady revenue from prescriptions and product sales, which makes their earnings reasonably predictable. That is why price-to-earnings (P/E) — the share price set against current net income — is the first lens here.
Price against earnings alone becomes unstable when earnings swing. Reading it together with price against assets helps gauge the downside.
This note explains how each sector is typically valued and is educational context only, not investment advice.
At-a-glance assessment financial health · growth · profitability · valuation
- Assets that can be turned to cash within a year fall short of near-term liabilities (current ratio 72.7%).
- Revenue rose 29.5% year over year, and the pace is quickening (3-year trend: rising).
- Net profit swung from a loss a year earlier back into the black (a turnaround).
- Most recent quarter (Q1 2026) revenue was 10.8% higher than a year earlier.
- ROE is 4.5% (controlling-interest basis). It is above the sector average.
- Operating margin is 9.6%.
- A sector-metric and in-depth research verdict — see “Valuation vs peers” below for the basis.
Ownership & governance As of 2025-12-31
Largest shareholder Kolon 25.11% (corporate)
Controlling bloc incl. related parties 42.44%
With the controlling bloc holding 42%, the ownership structure is stable.
🔎 In-depth analysis Reading
The company earns money in two main ways. Most of its revenue comes from the chemical business. It supplies pharmaceutical makers with APIs — the core raw materials that go into a finished drug — such as antibiotic ingredients like nadifloxacin and levofloxacin and anti-inflammatory painkiller ingredients like zaltoprofen, along with pharmaceutical intermediates, and it adds functional chemical materials such as antibacterial agents and water-treatment agents plus materials used in semiconductor and electronic processes. The other pillar is the bio business, which develops a new-drug pipeline including Invossa (TG-C), a cell and gene therapy aimed at degenerative arthritis, and KLS-2031, a treatment for neuropathic pain. In short, today's actual revenue and profit are supported by sales of APIs and materials, while the biologic new drugs are closer to future growth candidates that still consume more cash.
The latest close is ₩15,600 and the market capitalization is ₩204.2 billion. The price sits below its 20-day moving average (₩23,530) and below its 60-day moving average (₩40,674). It is under both its short- and medium-term moving averages, so the trend looks subdued. The RSI (a supplementary indicator that gauges the strength of gains versus losses over the past 14 days on a 0-100 scale) is 25.5, near oversold territory. The one-month change is -64.3%, the three-month change is -73.7%, and the position relative to the 52-week high is -78.0%. Relative strength versus the KOSDAQ is 17 (on a 1-99 scale, converted from returns against the index over the past year with more weight on recent performance; higher means stronger than the market). It is stronger than roughly 17% of all stocks. Over the past three months it lagged the index by 61.9%. Chart interpretation is best done alongside trading volume and the dates on which disclosures occur.
Start with valuation. The P/E ratio (how many times one year of profit the share price is) is 8.18x. However, the denominator of that multiple — 2025 net profit of ₩25.0 billion — contains a large share of the one-off gains explained below, so the multiple on the core business alone is more accurately seen as higher than this. The P/B (how many times net assets the share price is) is 0.26x, below even the book value of net assets. ROE (how much is earned in a year on shareholders' equity) is still low at 4.3%. The operating margin is 8.4%. The balance sheet is neutral to somewhat burdened. The debt ratio (debt against equity) is 156.6%, and the current ratio (assets that can be turned into cash immediately against debt due within a year) is 63.6%, below 100%. That means the capacity to cover near-term maturing debt is not ample. Factoring in debt makes the picture a bit heavier. Net debt (total borrowings minus cash) is about ₩93.1 billion. EV/EBIT (enterprise value divided by operating profit — a debt-adjusted counterpart to the P/E) is a high 37x. The FCF yield (actual cash generated against market cap) is -5.0%, meaning that over the past year more cash went out than came in. In other words, while accounting net profit is positive, actual cash generation is still negative — a point to view together.
The direction of revenue growth is clear. Revenue reached ₩209.0 billion in 2025, up 29.5% year on year, rising for a third straight year and picking up pace. The bottom line reversed dramatically. Operating profit turned from losses of ₩24.1 billion in 2023 and ₩22.1 billion in 2024 to a ₩17.6 billion profit in 2025. Net profit likewise swung from -₩93.1 billion in 2024 to +₩25.0 billion in 2025. In the first quarter of 2026 the company posted revenue of ₩49.7 billion (up 10.8% year on year) and net profit of ₩20.8 billion. Still, the nature of the earnings deserves a note. In 2025 a large one-off gain recognized as consideration for transferring technology and rights related to a semiconductor material (modified polyphenylene oxide, mPPO) lifted profit substantially. Indeed, net profit (₩25.0 billion) exceeding operating profit (₩17.6 billion), and first-quarter net profit (₩20.8 billion) reaching seven times operating profit (₩2.9 billion), both stem from such items arising outside operations. As a result, this year's profit outlook varies widely depending on how steady the core API business proves and whether further technology transfers or Invossa-related events recur. Because of this one-off character, the company's own official annual profit plan is not disclosed either, so rather than force a figure, only the trend and the assumptions are stated honestly.
The flow of disclosures centers on governance and routine events. At the March 2026 annual general meeting the CEO was changed, and there were board-composition changes such as the appointment of outside directors. Around the same time the company borrowed funds from related parties, and in May it made an equity investment in a related party. It is a structure of continuing fund and equity transactions among group affiliates. On the earnings side, a February disclosure (corrected in March) of a change of 30% or more in revenue or profit-and-loss structure confirmed the 2025 return to profit. In May the first-quarter 2026 report was filed, confirming the strong net profit of ₩20.8 billion. The key variable that divides the business's own course, per disclosures and IR, is the progress of Invossa's (TG-C) U.S. Phase 3 clinical trial.
In sum, this is a stock whose direction has improved but whose quality of earnings must be examined. The strengths are clear. Revenue has grown at a double-digit pace for three years, and the company has turned from a long stretch of losses into profit. A real, tangible core business in APIs and electronic materials underpins the growth. A P/B of 0.91x — a price below even net assets — is also a factor that supports the downside. On the other hand, the cautions are just as clear. A large share of recent profit came from one-off gains such as consideration for technology transfers, so the profitability of the core business alone once those items are stripped out (operating margin 8.4%, ROE 4.3%) is still not high. With a negative FCF yield, actual cash generation is still recovering, and a current ratio of 63.6% means near-term financial flexibility is not ample either. All told, the structure is strong when the core API margin rises steadily and further technology transfers or Invossa clinical results are confirmed, and weak when the one-off gains fade leaving only core-business profit, or when clinical uncertainty comes to the fore.
🔎 Valuation vs peers Inconclusive
Compared with mid-sized pharma and bio companies that manufacture APIs and pharmaceutical intermediates while also running a new-drug pipeline — Hanmi Pharmaceutical (a large drugmaker centered on new-drug R&D), Pharma Research (high-margin bio and aesthetic materials) and Daewon Pharmaceutical (a synthetic-drug-focused maker) were used as the peer set.
| Peer | P/E | P/B | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hanmi Pharmaceutical | 29.54x | 3.85x | 13.54% |
| Pharma Research | 24.82x | 5.88x | 25.52% |
| Daewon Pharmaceutical | — | 0.65x | 1.09% |
At first glance a P/E of 21.3x looks lower than Hanmi Pharmaceutical (30x) and similar to Pharma Research (19x). But the denominator of that multiple — 2025 net profit — includes a large one-off gain such as consideration for a semiconductor-materials technology transfer, so the multiple on the core business with that item removed is higher than the surface figure. Conversely, Pharma Research and Hanmi Pharmaceutical have core-business margins (operating margins of 40% and 17% respectively) and ROE (24%, 14%) far above Kolon Life Science's (8.4%, 4.3%). In other words, Kolon Life Science's seemingly low P/E should be read with the one-off nature of its earnings in mind rather than as undervaluation. On the other hand, a P/B of 0.91x sits below net assets, a low level in terms of asset value. Because the quality of earnings and the asset-value metric point in different directions, and the normal profit level of the core business is not yet established, a firm over- or undervalued call is held off.
Price history Close · MA20 · MA60
The latest close is ₩15,600 and the market capitalization is ₩204.2 billion. The price sits below its 20-day moving average (₩23,530) and below its 60-day moving average (₩40,674). It is under both its short- and medium-term moving averages, so the trend looks subdued. The RSI (a supplementary indicator that gauges the strength of gains versus losses over the past 14 days on a 0-100 scale) is 25.5, near oversold territory. The one-month change is -64.3%, the three-month change is -73.7%, and the position relative to the 52-week high is -78.0%. Relative strength versus the KOSDAQ is 17 (on a 1-99 scale, converted from returns against the index over the past year with more weight on recent performance; higher means stronger than the market). It is stronger than roughly 17% of all stocks. Over the past three months it lagged the index by 61.9%. Chart interpretation is best done alongside trading volume and the dates on which disclosures occur.
Relative performance stock vs index · start = 100
Excess return vs index · 3M -61.93% / 6M -69.02% / 12M -50.43%
Key metrics Computed vs sector median
Valuation
The P/E of 8.18x is below the sector median (15.02x). The P/B of 0.26x is below the sector median (1.10x). Both metrics are low versus peers, so the price is not expensive relative to earnings and assets. That said, this P/E is based on last year's (trailing) results. With recent quarterly earnings up sharply, the trailing P/E can look higher than it really is, so a precise read is best done on this year's expected (forward) earnings.
Enterprise value (EV)
EV = market cap + net debt. It reflects cash and debt, so it captures the real cost of the whole business that market cap alone misses; lower multiples are cheaper relative to earnings or sales.
Intrinsic value (DCF estimate) Estimate
Model output — not a price target. This is what the formula returns under the assumptions below, not a view on where the share price should go.
DCF (discounted cash flow) estimate — discount rate 11.6%, initial growth 4.0%→terminal 2.0%, 10-yr forecast, earnings-based. A reference range that shifts materially with assumptions.
Profitability & financials
Return on equity (ROE) is 4.5%, above the sector average (1.0%). The operating margin is 9.6%. The debt ratio is 46.5%, so the financial structure is stable.
Growth FY2025 · annual report (consolidated)
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $87.6M | $113.4M | $146.8M | +29.49% ↑ faster |
| Operating profit | -$16.9M | -$15.5M | $12.3M | — |
| Net profit | -$21.6M | -$65.4M | $17.5M | — |
| 5-year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $116.3M | $135.2M | $87.6M | $113.4M | $146.8M |
| Operating profit | $2.7M | $1.1M | -$16.9M | -$15.5M | $12.3M |
| Net profit | -$965,887 | $1.5M | -$21.6M | -$65.4M | $17.5M |
| Revenue CAGR | 4-yr avg 6.01% | ||||
Revenue rose 29.5% year over year (2023 ₩124.6 billion → 2024 ₩161.4 billion → 2025 ₩209.0 billion), and the three-year trend is 'rising'. The pace of growth also quickened from the prior year. Over the 5 years on record, revenue compound annual growth (CAGR) is 6.0%. The two-year revenue CAGR is 29.5%. In the most recent quarter (Q1 2026), revenue was 10.8% higher than the same period a year earlier.
Latest quarterly results Source Q1 2026 · vs year-ago
Technical indicators Computed
What stands out
- P/E and P/B are both low versus peers, so the price looks inexpensive relative to earnings and assets.
- Revenue grew 29.5% year over year, a sign of growth.
Points to watch
- The figures shown are based on the last annual report as of the writing date, so it is best to review the latest quarterly results and filings alongside them.
Recent news & events searched · sourced
- 2026-05-15EarningsFirst-quarter 2026 report filed. Revenue of ₩49.7 billion (up 10.8% year on year) and net profit of ₩20.8 billion. Net profit far exceeding operating profit of ₩2.9 billion reflects the impact of non-operating items.Short term: confirmation that the profit trend continues, but a large share of earnings arose outside operations, so the quality of earnings needs checking. Source
- 2026-03-26FilingThe annual general meeting in March confirmed board-composition changes, including a change of CEO and the appointment of outside directors.Medium term: a change of management could bring shifts in business priorities and strategic direction. Source
- 2026-03-26FilingDecision to borrow funds from a related party. Liquidity secured through fund transactions with a group affiliate.Short term: reinforces near-term funding flexibility but reflects a funding structure dependent on affiliates. Source
- 2026-03-05EarningsDisclosure of a change of 30% or more in revenue or profit-and-loss structure (corrected). Confirms the 2025 swing to positive operating and net profit.Medium term: official confirmation of the profit reversal after the large losses of 2023-2024. Source
- 2026-05-18FilingDecision to make an equity investment in a related party. Affiliate equity and capital transaction.Medium term: reflects the linkage structure with the group's bio value chain (production and clinical affiliates). Source
Figure cross-check computed ↔ external
Recent filings Source
- 2026-05-29Large-business-group status disclosure
- 2026-05-18Disclosure
- 2026-05-15PeriodicQuarterly report
- 2026-03-26Disclosure
- 2026-03-26Disclosure
- 2026-03-26Shareholders' meeting notice
- 2026-03-26Disclosure
- 2026-03-18PeriodicAnnual business report
- 2026-03-18Audit report
- 2026-03-11Shareholders' meeting notice
- 2026-03-05Shareholders' meeting notice
- 2026-03-05EarningsAmended filing
📖 Plain-language glossary — expand if you are new to this
- P/E
- How many times a year's net profit the price is worth (lower is cheaper relative to earnings). The P/E here is on trailing (last full-year) results; for companies whose earnings swing fast (memory chips and other cyclicals/high-growth), a forward P/E on this year's expected earnings is more accurate.
- P/B
- Price relative to net assets (equity). Around 1x means it trades near book value; below 1x means below book.
- P/S
- Price relative to a year's revenue — useful for growth companies with thin earnings.
- Net debt / EV
- Net debt = interest-bearing debt − cash. Negative means more cash than debt (net cash). EV (enterprise value) = market cap + net debt, closer to what it would cost to buy the whole business.
- EV/EBIT · EV/EBITDA · EV/Sales
- Enterprise value against operating profit (EBIT), EBITDA, or revenue. Unlike P/E these reflect debt and cash; lower is cheaper relative to earnings power or sales.
- FCF / FCF yield
- Free cash flow = operating cash − capex, the cash actually left over. FCF yield = FCF ÷ market cap; higher means more cash generated per unit of market value.
- Intrinsic value (DCF)
- Future free cash flow (or, for some capex-heavy but profitable names, forecast earnings) discounted to today to estimate per-share value. Because it shifts a lot with the discount-rate and growth assumptions, it is shown as a bear/base/bull range, and the basis and assumptions are disclosed in one line beneath it.
- ROE
- How much profit the company earns in a year on its equity (%). Higher means better returns on capital.
- EPS / BPS
- Earnings per share / net assets (book value) per share.
- Operating / net margin
- Profit left from the core business / final profit after tax and interest, per unit of revenue.
- Debt ratio
- Debt relative to equity (%). Higher means more reliance on borrowing (norms vary by sector).
- Current ratio
- Assets convertible to cash within a year against debt due within a year. Above 100% leaves some short-term headroom.
- Interest coverage
- How many times operating profit covers the interest owed. Below 1x means operating profit alone struggles to cover interest.
- Dividend yield / payout ratio
- The year's dividend as a % of today's price / the share of earnings paid out as dividends.
- Revenue CAGR
- Multi-year growth expressed as a single yearly average (compound annual growth rate).
- RSI (short-term signal)
- Whether recent price action is overheated or beaten down. Above 70 is overbought, below 30 oversold.
- MA20 / MA60 (moving averages)
- The 20- and 60-day average price. Price above them signals a firmer short-term trend.
- vs 52-week high
- How far below the past year's peak the price sits now (%).
All figures are for reference only; how they read varies by sector and over time.
Sources: Korea FSC market-price API (data.go.kr), OpenDART, KRX/KIND — public data only.
Bong Stocks presents public-data-based information for reference only. It is not investment advice and contains no target prices, ratings, or buy/sell recommendations. Verify independently before making any decision.