PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩0 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close
KM Pharmaceutical, known for Pororo-branded oral care and cosmetics OEM/ODM, is pursuing new growth lines including a nanographene-based hair-care brand and bottled water while working to narrow four straight years of operating losses.
2025 revenue rose to KRW 15.99bn from KRW 14.47bn a year earlier, but the operating loss widened to KRW 2.92bn
Operating losses narrowed sequentially in Q1-Q2 2026, from KRW -0.66bn to KRW -0.59bn
The nanographene-based 'Zerocipe' brand has expanded distribution and completed patent registration
The company obtained a China hygiene license and is diversifying exports via Malaysia and Thailand distribution deals
Risk remains of management-issue designation under KOSDAQ's new delisting rules on sub-KRW 1,000 stocks and market cap thresholds
KM Pharmaceutical's core business spans oral care, beauty care, and other daily living products.
In oral care, character-licensed children's toothpaste and toothbrushes under brands like Pororo and Tayo are flagship items, while beauty care centers on the dermo-cosmetic brand 'Zerocipe.' Zerocipe uses nanographene raw material secured through a partnership with nanotechnology firm InviCT, and after its June 2023 launch it entered the Olive Young retail channel in November 2024, reaching cumulative sales of about 170,000 units as of February 2026.
Cosmetics OEM/ODM and living products such as masks form separate revenue streams, and from January 2026 the company added bottled-water manufacturing and sales to its business scope and began selling the product.
It recently signed an annual supply contract worth roughly KRW 1 billion with cosmetics brand company General Brands, and formed a joint development MOU with GS Caltex and Dermapro to use the bio-material GreenDiol in oral-health products.
Overseas, the company obtained a China hygiene license in December 2025, becoming one of only three Korean firms to secure such approval for children's oral care products, and signed an exclusive distribution deal with Malaysia's Cosway while discussing supply with Thailand's ADMI.
The company is pursuing a transformation from an OEM/ODM-centered structure toward a comprehensive life-care brand company centered on high-functionality products.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩3.2B | -₩700M | −22.2% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩4.4B | -₩800M | −18.5% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩4.3B | -₩900M | −19.8% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩4.5B | -₩700M | −14.7% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩3.8B | -₩600M | −15.3% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩15.6B | -₩1.2B | -₩3.9B | −8.0% | −10.8% | 41.2% |
| 2023 | ₩17.8B | -₩1.1B | -₩1.3B | −6.1% | −3.7% | 42.5% |
| 2024 | ₩14.5B | -₩2.6B | -₩4.6B | −17.7% | −14.0% | 50.2% |
| 2025 | ₩16B | -₩2.9B | -₩4B | −18.3% | −14.0% | 64.1% |
Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-08-23
On an annual basis, revenue rebounded from KRW 15.63bn in 2022 to KRW 17.77bn in 2023, fell to KRW 14.47bn in 2024, then rose again to KRW 15.99bn in 2025.
Operating losses, however, narrowed from KRW -1.25bn in 2022 to KRW -1.09bn in 2023 before widening again to KRW -2.57bn in 2024 and KRW -2.92bn in 2025, marking four consecutive years of operating losses. Operating margin also deteriorated from -6.1% in 2023 to -17.7% in 2024 and -18.3% in 2025.
Net loss attributable to owners narrowed from KRW -3.92bn in 2022 to KRW -1.32bn in 2023, then widened again to KRW -4.57bn in 2024 and remained at KRW -3.97bn in 2025.
Quarterly, revenue grew from KRW 3.24bn with an operating loss of KRW -0.72bn in Q2 2025 to KRW 4.38bn (-0.81bn) in Q3 2025 and KRW 4.29bn (-0.85bn) in Q4 2025, though losses grew alongside revenue.
In the most recent two quarters, however, the operating loss narrowed to KRW -0.66bn on revenue of KRW 4.47bn in Q1 2026 and to KRW -0.59bn on revenue of KRW 3.84bn in Q2 2026. Net loss to owners also shrank from KRW -1.16bn in Q4 2025 to KRW -0.83bn in Q1 2026 and KRW -0.76bn in Q2 2026.
Still, the sequential revenue decline in Q2 2026 suggests new-business contributions have yet to produce a stable growth trajectory.
The domestic oral care and cosmetics OEM/ODM market features numerous small and mid-sized manufacturers competing for share, with the overseas expansion of K-beauty brands supporting demand.
In the hair and scalp care segment in particular, the domestic hair-loss-affected population is estimated at about 10 million people, with the related market growing to roughly KRW 500 billion.
The global hair-care market is estimated at about USD 110 billion, within which the hair-loss and scalp-care segment is reported to be growing at an annual rate of 6-8%. Amid this trend, K-beauty is rapidly expanding beyond skincare into hair care, drawing increasing global attention.
KM Pharmaceutical is attempting a premium positioning in this market by securing a patent on differentiated nanographene material technology, though in terms of revenue scale it remains a small player.
Across the KOSDAQ market more broadly, tightened delisting requirements effective from July 2026 have exposed numerous small-cap stocks that fail to meet market-cap or share-price thresholds to management-issue risk, and KM Pharmaceutical sits within the scope of this industry-wide shift.
The company added bottled-water manufacturing and sales to its business scope in January 2026 and began selling the product to secure a new revenue stream.
It stated that its nanographene-based Zerocipe line completed patent registration in June 2026, securing technical exclusivity, and previously announced a jointly developed intensive hair-loss care product with a UK-based hair-loss clinic targeted for a summer 2026 launch.
The company also said it is pursuing North American market entry through discussions with US offline retail channels. In China, it obtained a hygiene license for children's oral care products in December 2025, laying the groundwork for expanding Pororo toothpaste sales there.
Domestically, it continues to pursue OEM/ODM revenue growth, including a roughly KRW 1 billion annual supply contract signed with cosmetics brand company General Brands in January 2026.
However, in response to tightened KOSDAQ delisting rules, the company is understood to have disclosed a treasury share buyback plan around August 2026, a share-price stabilization measure whose actual execution and scale remain a point to watch.
KM Pharmaceutical has not produced clear profits, making price-to-earnings-based comparisons difficult, and its shares appear to trade at a discount to book value per share. The company pays no dividend, which also limits valuation discussions based on dividend yield.
Following the 5-for-1 par-value consolidation carried out in early 2026, the basis for calculating share count and per-share metrics changed, so care is needed when comparing past per-share figures with the present.
Book equity on the financial statements declined from KRW 36.3bn in 2022 to KRW 28.3bn in 2025, a trend that reflects accumulated net losses eroding capital.
As a result, the market appears to weigh this stock less on current earnings and more on the visibility of new-business progress (nanographene, bottled water) and listing-maintenance issues.
PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are all calculated in-house (the same method as Naver and Toss) · Dividend yield = cash dividend per share from DART filings (supplemented by KRX) ÷ current price · As of 2026-08-23
The company is simultaneously pursuing multiple growth drivers, including the nanographene-based Zerocipe line, bottled water, and new cosmetics OEM contracts. It states that patent registration has secured technical exclusivity over the nanographene material. With several initiatives running in parallel, successful execution could diversify revenue sources.
The company secured a China hygiene license in December 2025, laying groundwork for entry into China's children's oral care market. It signed an exclusive distribution deal with Malaysia's Cosway, is discussing supply with Thailand's ADMI, and says it is pursuing UK and US channel entry as well. If these diversified overseas channels take hold, dependence on the domestic market could be reduced.
Operating losses narrowed to KRW -0.66bn in Q1 2026 and KRW -0.59bn in Q2 2026 compared with prior quarters. Net loss to owners also shrank from KRW -1.16bn in Q4 2025 to KRW -0.76bn in Q2 2026. If this loss-narrowing trend continues, it could be read as a signal of improving profitability structure.
Operating losses have continued every year from 2022 through 2025, with the loss size actually widening over the past two years. Operating margin also deteriorated from -6.1% in 2023 to -18.3% in 2025. A pattern has repeated in which revenue growth fails to offset widening losses.
Book equity declined from KRW 36.3bn in 2022 to KRW 28.3bn in 2025, while the debt ratio rose from 41.2% to 64.1% over the same period.
If accumulated net losses continue eroding capital, financial flexibility could be further constrained, and the combination of ongoing new-business investment with continued losses adds to the burden.
Under KOSDAQ's new delisting rule effective July 2026, a stock trading below KRW 1,000 for 30 consecutive trading days can be designated a management issue. Several KOSDAQ names including KM Pharmaceutical are understood to have disclosed treasury share buyback plans in response.
Some observers note that if the share price remains below the threshold even after a par-value consolidation, the underlying issue may not be fundamentally resolved.
Concerns over management-issue designation persist under KOSDAQ's tightened delisting requirements on market cap and sub-KRW-1,000 share prices. Countermeasures such as treasury stock buybacks have been disclosed, but observers note these could amount to repeated stopgaps without underlying competitiveness improvement.
If designated a management issue, the company would need to maintain the threshold for 45 of the following 90 trading days, a significant burden.
Multiple new businesses—nanographene products, bottled water, and overseas distribution deals—remain at an early stage, and their revenue contribution has yet to be validated. The sequential revenue decline in Q2 2026 versus Q1 shows that a stable growth trajectory for these new businesses has not yet been confirmed.
Most overseas channels (UK, US, Thailand, etc.) remain at the discussion or joint-development stage, leaving the timing of actual revenue realization uncertain.
Four consecutive years of operating and net losses have led to a continuous decline in book equity. The debt ratio also rose from 41.2% in 2022 to 64.1% in 2025, a signal that could indicate weakening financial buffers. If additional funding is needed to finance new-business investment, it could affect existing shareholder value.
If the share price fails to meet the KRW 1,000 threshold for 30 consecutive trading days, management-issue designation could follow, so ongoing monitoring of trading-day status and related disclosures is warranted.
Q3 earnings and quarterly report disclosures should be checked to see whether the loss-narrowing trend continues and whether new-business (nanographene, bottled water, China exports) revenue contributions become visible.
It should be confirmed whether the product co-developed with the UK hair-loss clinic, targeted for a summer 2026 launch, was actually released, and what its early sales performance looked like.
The actual execution and scale of the treasury share buyback plan disclosed around August 2026, and its effect on share-price stabilization, should be checked.
KM Pharmaceutical is attempting a business transformation by adding multiple new ventures—nanographene-based hair care, bottled water, and expanded overseas distribution—to its core oral care and cosmetics OEM business. 2025 revenue rose year-over-year, but the operating loss widened, extending the loss streak to four straight years, though Q1-Q2 2026 showed a narrowing trend in loss size.
Book equity has continued to decline and the debt ratio has risen, signaling gradually weakening financial resilience.
The company has taken measures such as par-value consolidation and treasury share buybacks in response to KOSDAQ's new delisting rules, but as long as the share price remains near the threshold, management-issue designation risk persists.
Growth narratives—China hygiene approval, the Malaysia exclusive deal, and the nanographene patent—are becoming more concrete, but whether they translate into actual revenue and profitability still requires further confirmation. Investors should watch upcoming quarterly results together with listing-maintenance-related disclosures.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
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