JONBUR Research · Initiation

Jeil Pharmaceutical · 271980 · Biotech & Pharma

Jeil Pharmaceutical: Thin margins and a 37.1% one-year share price fall, with trading below book value

Why this report

Start of coverage: written when a reader opened this company and there was no report yet.

Jeil Pharmaceutical's share price closed at ₩9,190 on 2026-10-21, down 37.1% over one year and near the low of its 52-week range. Filed results show a return to profit in 2025 but a sharp drop in profitability in the first half of 2026, with revenue of ₩543.5B over the trailing twelve months.

Written Oct 22, 2026 · Data as of Oct 21, 2026 · 0 views

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

Thesis

The data supports a picture of a low-margin company with volatile earnings. Operating profit was negative in 2021, 2022 and 2024, positive in 2023 and 2025, and the trailing operating margin is only 0.7%. The shares trade at 0.7 times book value, below the 1.1 times seen at the end of 2025, which reflects the weaker outlook the market is pricing in. What the data does not show is why revenue fell 19.5% in 2025 or what drives the recent earnings decline, since no news headlines are available. Foreign ownership dropped from 1.9% to 1.1% over 60 days, while short interest is low at 0.1%. A valuation model estimate is not available.

Business overview

Jeil Pharmaceutical is listed on KOSPI in the Biotech & Pharma sector, with 14,704,872 listed shares and a market capitalisation of about ₩135.1B. It was founded on 2017-06-01 and listed on 2017-07-17, and is led by co-CEOs Seong Seok-je and Han Sang-chul. Revenue was around ₩700B to ₩726B from 2021 to 2023, then fell to ₩704.5B in 2024 and ₩567.2B in 2025. The data gives no breakdown of products or segments.

Financial analysis

These figures come from filed financial statements. Revenue was ₩567.2B in 2025, down 19.5%, after a 3.0% decline in 2024. Operating income was ₩20.7B in 2025 (3.6% margin) versus a loss of ₩18.9B in 2024. Net income was ₩23.4B in 2025 against a loss of ₩30.0B in 2024, and ROE was 11.7%. Over the trailing twelve months to H1 2026, revenue was ₩543.5B, operating income ₩3.7B (0.7% margin) and net income ₩9.3B (1.7% margin), with ROE at 4.7%. Net income exceeding operating income suggests non-operating gains, though the data does not detail them. Liabilities to equity were 107.7%. Cash was ₩58.5B against borrowings of ₩109.6B, and free cash flow was negative at ₩15.8B.

Valuation

The shares trade at a P/E of 14.5, P/B of 0.7 and P/S of 0.2, with enterprise value of ₩181.8B. Year-end P/B was 1.1 in 2025, 0.9 in 2024, 1.6 in 2023, 2.0 in 2022 and 3.0 in 2021, so the current level is the lowest in the period shown. Year-end P/E was 9.5 in 2025 and 50.2 in 2023. Listed peers trade at much higher multiples: Samsung Biologics at P/E 33.1 and P/B 7.8, Celltrion at 29.1 and 2.6, Yuhan at 26.9 and 2.7, and SK biopharmaceuticals at 14.6 and 5.7, though they are far larger companies. The dividend yield is 0.0%. No valuation model estimate is available for this company, so there is no per-share estimate to compare with the ₩9,190 price.

Catalysts

  • The next periodic filing will show whether the thin first-half 2026 operating margin of 0.7% improves or weakens.
  • Any change in foreign ownership, which fell from 1.9% to 1.1% over 60 days, may signal shifting sentiment.
  • The 52-week range of ₩8,810 to ₩19,290 puts the price close to its low, so further moves will be watched against that level.
  • The 5%+ holding report filed on 2026-04-30 points to changes in major shareholdings that may be worth following in later filings.

Risks

  • Operating margins are thin, at 0.7% over the trailing twelve months, leaving little cushion against cost or sales pressure.
  • Revenue fell 19.5% in 2025 and the data does not explain the cause or whether it will recover.
  • Free cash flow was negative ₩15.8B while borrowings of ₩109.6B exceed cash of ₩58.5B.
  • Earnings have swung between losses and profits in recent years, making results hard to rely on.
  • Foreign investors net sold over the last 20 days, and the share price is down 37.1% over one year.

Closing view

The evidence is mixed. A low P/B of 0.7 and a recovery to profit in 2025 sit alongside falling revenue, a very thin trailing operating margin, negative free cash flow and net borrowings. Net income above operating income also means the quality of recent profit is unclear from the data given. With no valuation model estimate and no news, a firmer view would need more detail on what drove the revenue decline and whether margins can stabilise.

Model estimate of fair value

The valuation model has no estimate for this company yet (not enough data, or no positive value with the base case).

Filings and data used

Report history

  1. Oct 22, 2026InitiationStart of coverage (reader request)Jeil Pharmaceutical: Thin margins and a 37.1% one-year share price fall, with trading 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