Kolmar Korea's Pennsylvania plant / Courtesy of Kolmar Korea
Kolmar Group has been designated as a large business group by the Fair Trade Commission, becoming the first cosmetics original development manufacturing (ODM) company to join the category.
The milestone comes 36 years after founder Yoon Dong-han launched the company in 1990 with just four employees.
As of the end of last year, Kolmar Group’s total assets reached 5.24 trillion won ($3.8 billion), surpassing the 5 trillion won threshold required for the designation as a large business group.
By affiliate, Kolmar Korea held assets worth 1.53 trillion won, followed by HK inno.N with 2.1 trillion won, Kolmar Holdings with 546.1 billion won and Kolmar BNH with 520.6 billion won.
The group has diversified from cosmetics into pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and functional health foods, while expanding globally to drive growth.
Kolmar Korea posted record-breaking results last year, logging 2.72 trillion won in consolidated sales and 239.6 billion won in operating profit, both up by double digits from a year earlier.
HK inno.N joined the “1 trillion won club” with revenue of 1.1 trillion won, supported by strong sales of its 30th domestically developed new drug, K-CAB, or tegoprazan, and its IV solutions business. Kolmar BNH also formed part of the group’s growth triangle with sales of 570 billion won.
Kolmar Group stressed that surpassing 5 trillion won in assets despite operating in a relatively low-margin contract manufacturing business demonstrates the growth potential and industrial value of technology-driven cosmetics manufacturers.
Source: Korea Times News
