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Whanin Pharm · 016580 · Biotech & Pharma

Whanin Pharm: Earnings Recovering From a 2025 Dip While Shares Trade Below Book Value

Why this report

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Whanin Pharm's trailing profit has recovered to ₩20.5B net income through H1 2026 after a weak 2025, and the shares trade at 0.5x book value. A model estimate based on the assumptions shown sits well above the ₩10,390 share price, but the company's growth and returns have been uneven.

Written Oct 19, 2026 · Data as of Oct 16, 2026 · 0 views

This is not financial advice. The report does not recommend buying or selling anything.

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Thesis

The data supports a picture of a profitable, low-debt company whose earnings fell in 2025 and have partly rebounded. Trailing operating margin is 8.2%, up from 5.1% in 2025, and net income of ₩20.5B compares with ₩13.6B for 2025. Free cash flow is ₩17.7B.

What the data does not support is a clear return to earlier profitability. Operating margin was 17.6% in 2021 and 13.1% in 2023, and trailing ROE of 5.1% is below the 8.6% of 2023. Revenue fell 1.7% in 2025 after three years of double-digit growth. The low multiples may reflect these weaker returns. No recent news headlines are available, so the reasons behind the swings are not visible in the data.

Business overview

Whanin Pharm is a KOSPI-listed company in the biotech and pharma sector, founded in 1982 and listed in 1996. It has two co-CEOs, 이광식 and 이원범, and 18,600,070 listed shares. Market capitalisation is about ₩193.3B.

Revenue grew from ₩177.8B in 2021 to ₩259.6B in 2024, then eased to ₩255.2B in 2025. Trailing revenue to H1 2026 is ₩273.5B, the highest in the data. Foreign ownership is 12.7%, up from 11.8% sixty days ago. Short balance is 0.0%.

Financial analysis

These figures come from filed financial statements. Trailing revenue is ₩273.5B, operating income ₩22.3B (8.2% margin) and net income ₩20.5B (7.5% margin). Trailing ROE is 5.1%.

Operating income peaked at ₩31.3B in 2021 and was ₩30.2B in 2023, then fell to ₩21.5B in 2024 and ₩13.0B in 2025. Net income followed a similar path: ₩29.8B in 2023, ₩23.4B in 2024 and ₩13.6B in 2025. Annual ROE ranged from 3.4% to 8.6%.

The balance sheet is conservative, with liabilities at 13.4% of equity and cash of ₩56.6B. Borrowings data is not available. Free cash flow is ₩17.7B on a trailing basis.

Valuation

Current multiples are P/E 9.4, P/B 0.5, P/S 0.7 and EV/EBITDA 4.5, with a dividend yield of 2.9%. Enterprise value is about ₩136.6B. Year-end P/E was 15.5 in 2025 and 9.4 in both 2024 and 2023, while P/B has stayed at 0.5 to 1.0 over the five years shown.

The listed peers are much larger and trade at far higher multiples: P/E from 14.3 (SK biopharmaceuticals) to 84.4 (Alteogen), and P/B from 2.5 to 30.4. They differ greatly in size and business, so the comparison is only loosely informative.

The valuation model uses a 5-year discounted cash flow at a 7.5% rate, based on trailing results to H1 2026. It gives a base case of ₩34,168 per share, with a bear case of ₩22,693 and a bull case of ₩52,952, versus a close of ₩10,390. This is a model estimate based on the assumptions shown, not a target. The wide gap suggests the model assumes much stronger cash flows than recent returns imply.

Catalysts

  • The half-year report filed on 2026-08-13 and the preliminary earnings of 2026-07-29 confirmed the trailing recovery in profit.
  • A corporate value-up plan was filed on 2026-03-23, which may bear on how the company addresses its below-book valuation.
  • Foreign ownership has risen from 11.8% to 12.7% over 60 days, although 20-day foreign flows were slightly negative at about -₩0.1B.
  • Institutions were net buyers of about ₩0.8B over 20 days while retail investors were net sellers of about ₩0.7B.
  • The next quarterly and preliminary earnings filings will show whether the margin recovery continues.

Risks

  • Profit fell sharply from 2023 to 2025, and the recent rebound may not last.
  • Trailing ROE of 5.1% is modest, which may explain why shares trade at half of book value.
  • Revenue declined 1.7% in 2025, showing growth is not guaranteed.
  • The model estimate depends heavily on assumptions, and its bear-to-bull range of ₩22,693 to ₩52,952 is very wide.
  • No recent news headlines are available, so company-specific developments behind the numbers cannot be assessed.

Closing view

The data shows a financially sound company with low debt, positive free cash flow and a partial earnings recovery, trading at 0.5x book and 9.4x earnings. Against that, margins and returns are well below their 2021 to 2023 levels, and the 1-year share return is -3.2%. The model estimate is far above the share price, but it rests on assumptions and the company's recent record is uneven. Whether the recovery continues is the main question for upcoming filings.

Model estimate of fair value

Bear
₩22,693
+122%
Base
₩34,168
+234%
Bull
₩52,952
+418%

Model estimate based on the assumptions shown. Not a price target and not a buy or sell signal.

Base case of the 5-year discounted cash flow model on the stock's Valuation tab (statements TTM to H1 2026; discount rate 7.5%). Bear and Bull move the main assumptions by fixed steps. See and change the assumptions

Filings and data used

Report history

  1. Oct 19, 2026InitiationStart of coverage (reader request)Whanin Pharm: Earnings Recovering From a 2025 Dip While Shares Trade Below Book Value

Built only from jonbur's own data: prices and investor flows, filed financial statements and filings, and news headlines. Disclosed (filed) data is labelled as such. Written by AI and may contain mistakes.

This is not financial advice. The report does not recommend buying or selling anything.

Source: KRX statistical information