Hanmi Pharm likely to have suffered setback in 2016 earnings

South Korea's major drugmaker Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. is forecast to have posted weak earnings for 2016 due to a partially canceled license-out deal with a global pharmaceutical firm, industry sources said Wednesday.

According to data compiled by industry tracker FnGuide, the median market consensus for Hanmi Pharm's revenue is 970 billion won ($808 million) in 2016.

Many local securities firms have been lowering their sales estimate below 1 trillion won for the drug manufacturer.

In a note to clients, Shinhan Financial cut Hanmi's 2016 revenue estimate from 1.21 trillion won to 943.1 billion won and Korea Investment & Securities also lowered its forecast from 1.03 trillion won to 994 billion won.

Industry watchers say the downbeat outlook for Hanmi Pharm is attributable to the canceled license-out contract with global drugmaker Sanofi to develop experimental, long-acting diabetes treatments.

In December 2016, Hanmi announced that it will return 250 billion won, half of the contract fees, to Sanofi.

Hanmi logged a record-high 1.3 trillion won in sales in 2015.

The revenue of two other major firms -- Green Cross Corp. and Yuhan Corp. -- also hovered above 1 trillion won in 2015. (Yonhap)