[News Space=Reporter seungwon lee] Hugel (Chairman Cha Suk-yong) renewed its best performance ever last year thanks to the performance of botulinum toxin. This year, Hugel plans to expand its global influence by targeting emerging markets. Following the addition of Chairman Cha Suk-yong, known as a global business expert, the 'Cha Suk-yong magic' is working at Hugel, following LG Household & Health Care, as significant results are being produced. 

Based on consolidated financial statements, global total medical aesthetics company Hugel achieved its best performance ever with sales of KRW 373 billion and operating profit of KRW 166.3 billion in 2024. This is a 16.7% and 41.2% increase year-on-year, respectively. Net income for the period was KRW 142.4 billion, up 45.8%.

Sales, operating profit, and net profit for the fourth quarter of 2024 were KRW 98.2 billion, KRW 46.6 billion, and KRW 40.7 billion, respectively, up 10.4%, 26.7%, and 130% year-on-year.

■ Sales are driven by even growth across all categories including botulinum toxin, HA filler, and cosmetics

Botulinum toxin (Botulax) recorded annual sales of KRW 203.2 billion, up 20.2% year-on-year. Overseas sales grew 39.6% year-on-year. This was driven by growth in the Asia Pacific region, as well as shipments to the U.S. and the European market.

In the case of HA filler (The Chaeum, Byrison), annual performance was 127.6 billion won. Overseas sales increased by 13.2% year-on-year due to smooth shipments to China and growth in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa (MENA) region. Hugel is focusing on various marketing activities to enhance brand awareness of HA filler, and is maintaining its lead in the domestic market as well as continuing to do well in the global market.

The derma cosmetics (Wellage, Byrison BR) sector is also growing explosively. Cosmetics performance showed solid sales growth, reaching 36.9 billion won, up 37.8% year-on-year. In the fourth quarter, it surged 48.1% year-on-year to 11.7 billion won. In the third quarter, 'Wellage' launched new products such as the 'Hyper Peptide Line', and 'Byrison BR', which was launched in April of last year, is continuously strengthening its brand value by increasing consumer touchpoints.

■ “Global acceleration this year as well” Launch in the US in 2025, targeting emerging markets such as the Middle East

This year, Hugel plans to focus on expanding sales and strengthening its market dominance in overseas markets.

In particular, in anticipation of the launch of botulinum toxin in the US market within the first half of the year, the company is putting all its efforts into establishing a final sales and marketing strategy. Based on differentiated policies such as academic activities targeting medical professionals and reasonable price competitiveness, Hugel plans to achieve a 10% share of the US medical aesthetics market within three years of entering the US market.

We are also accelerating our advance into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, an emerging market in the medical aesthetics field. We are aiming to secure a 30% market share within three years in major countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where we recently obtained approval for toxin products, and Kuwait, a country where we have already entered the market.

A representative of Hugel said, “Last year, both our representative products, botulinum toxin and HA filler, as well as our new growth engine, cosmetics, achieved significant growth, achieving the highest sales, operating profit, and net profit since our founding,” adding, “This year, we will continue to grow in new markets such as North America and MENA, as well as throughout Asia Pacific and Europe, and solidify our position as a global first-class company.”