PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close
As it pursues a global and data-driven CRO transition, C&R Research has built up its order backlog even as operating margin declined for several years before turning profitable again only in the second quarter of 2026.
Order backlog stood at roughly KRW160 billion as of end-Q2 2026, with H1 2026 new orders of about KRW54 billion already exceeding full-year 2025 new orders.
Consolidated operating margin fell for three straight years from 11.3% in 2023 to 6.1% in 2024 and 2.1% in 2025, before turning negative in Q1 2026.
Q2 2026 revenue reached KRW17.78 billion with operating profit of KRW176 million, reversing the prior quarter's loss.
The company is simultaneously building a 'data CRO' model via the Mediplexus acquisition and a Korea-Japan-China clinical platform via the EPSI Korea acquisition.
The company completed a 5-for-1 share consolidation in June 2026 in response to KOSDAQ's new penny-stock management-issue rule.
C&R Research was established in 1997 as Korea's first contract research organization (CRO), converted to a corporation in 2000, and listed on KOSDAQ in 2021 as a leading domestic CRO.
Its core business is providing outsourced clinical trial services on behalf of pharmaceutical and biotech companies across the full drug development cycle, split between trials for regulatory approval (Phase 1-3) and post-marketing surveillance trials.
Major shareholder Yoon Mun-tae and related parties hold a 64.42% stake. The subsidiary and joint-venture structure is diversified, including a central lab joint venture with GC Cell and ABC Bioscience, co-founded with Biotoxtech and A-Pace to complement preclinical and candidate-discovery services.
The company recently acquired a 52.39% stake in Mediplexus, a hospital real-world data (RWD/RWE) firm, expanding into a 'data CRO' model that combines clinical operations with data analytics.
Its subsidiary Trial Informatics, which operates the proprietary clinical data platform 'BOIM,' also participated in winning the U.S. confirmatory trial for Somzz, Korea's first approved digital therapeutic.
Overseas footholds now span Singapore, Thailand, the United States, and China, with a new Indonesia office and the acquisition of EPS International Korea, completing a Korea-Japan-China clinical platform.
The client base has been shifting from smaller, cash-constrained domestic biotech ventures toward larger pharmaceutical companies with steadier cash flow.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩16.9B | ₩1.3B | 7.4% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩15.8B | ₩200M | 1.6% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩15.2B | ₩92,635,753 | 0.6% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩14.8B | -₩1B | −6.6% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩17.8B | ₩200M | 1.0% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩48.5B | ₩4.7B | ₩3.9B | 9.7% | 10.9% | 95.5% |
| 2023 | ₩55.1B | ₩6.2B | ₩5.6B | 11.3% | 13.2% | 83.2% |
| 2024 | ₩59.7B | ₩3.6B | ₩3.8B | 6.1% | 8.2% | 81.8% |
| 2025 | ₩65B | ₩1.4B | ₩2.6B | 2.1% | 5.2% | 76.9% |
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
Consolidated revenue rose for four consecutive years, from KRW48.50 billion in 2022 to KRW55.10 billion in 2023, KRW59.69 billion in 2024, and KRW64.98 billion in 2025.
Profitability, however, moved in the opposite direction: operating margin peaked at 9.7% in 2022 and 11.3% in 2023 before falling sharply to 6.1% in 2024 and 2.1% in 2025.
Operating profit itself declined for three straight years, from KRW6.23 billion in 2023 to KRW3.63 billion in 2024 and KRW1.38 billion in 2025, while net income attributable to owners fell from KRW5.56 billion in 2023 to KRW2.59 billion in 2025.
On a quarterly basis, margins kept thinning from KRW16.93 billion revenue and KRW1.26 billion operating profit in Q2 2025 to KRW15.79 billion/KRW246 million in Q3 and KRW15.21 billion/KRW93 million in Q4.
Revenue slipped further to KRW14.76 billion in Q1 2026, and the consolidated operating line swung to a loss of KRW974 million, with owners' net income also negative at KRW324 million.
Q2 2026 revenue rebounded to KRW17.78 billion, operating profit returned to positive at KRW176 million, and owners' net income reached KRW818 million, a recovery attributed largely to improved profitability in the core clinical-trial outsourcing business.
Owners' net income summed across the trailing four quarters (Q3 2025-Q2 2026) came to KRW1.66 billion, below the full-year 2025 figure of KRW2.59 billion.
On the cash-flow side, consolidated operating cash flow turned negative at KRW3.07 billion in 2025, reversing net inflows of KRW2.52 billion, KRW3.51 billion, and KRW2.84 billion in 2022-2024, a shift linked to upfront investment in new overseas entities and acquisitions along with rising receivables inherent to project-based revenue recognition. The debt ratio gradually declined from 95.5% in 2022 to 83.2% in 2023, 81.8% in 2024, and 76.9% in 2025.
The global CRO market is estimated at roughly $86 billion in 2026, with an annual growth rate near 8% projected through 2031. North America remains the largest region, but Asia-Pacific is expected to grow fastest on a higher annual rate.
Korea's domestic CRO services market is comparatively small, holding an estimated 2.3% share of the global market.
The competitive landscape mixes global majors such as IQVIA, Labcorp, and ICON with domestic listed CROs such as Dream CIS, and C&R Research is considered one of the leading players by revenue among domestic CRO firms.
As clinical-trial outsourcing demand shifts toward more complex areas such as biologics and cell and gene therapies, CROs with strong data management and biostatistics capabilities are seen as increasingly well positioned.
A domestic policy variable is KOSDAQ's new penny-stock management-issue rule effective from July 2026, under which a stock is designated a management issue if its closing price stays below KRW1,000 for 30 consecutive trading days, followed by delisting proceedings if it fails to recover for 45 consecutive days within the following 90 days.
In response, C&R Research carried out a 5-for-1 share consolidation in June 2026 to raise its per-share price. Some observers also note that intensifying domestic CRO competition combined with upfront overseas-expansion costs has pressured profitability across the sector.
The company reported an order backlog of roughly KRW160 billion as of the end of Q2 2026. New orders in H1 2026 totaled about KRW54 billion, already exceeding the full-year 2025 figure, and the company said it had raised its annual new-order target to KRW120 billion.
Given that CRO revenue recognition typically lags order-taking by six months to a year, analysts note that the H1 order surge may only gradually flow into results from the second half onward.
Overseas network expansion continues: the acquisition of EPS International Korea, the Korean unit of Japan's EPS group, completed a Korea-Japan-China clinical platform, and a memorandum of understanding with China's Taimei Intelligence R&D aims to build a two-way clinical development platform.
In Southeast Asia, following the establishment of an Indonesia office, a partnership with a Vietnamese CRO is expanding the company's clinical operating footprint across infectious disease, oncology, and cell therapy fields.
New business lines include real-world-data (RWD) services enabled by the Mediplexus acquisition and digital healthcare expansion via the U.S. confirmatory trial win for Somzz, Korea's first approved digital therapeutic.
The company plans to hold a webinar on clinical data management (RBQM/CDM) on September 16, continuing its outreach around data-CRO capabilities.
With owners' net income returning to a profit trend over the trailing four quarters after several years of decline, some market observers view the company as entering a recovery phase following a multi-year earnings downturn.
The shares trade at a level below book value per share, placing them closer to a discount than a premium relative to net assets. No confirmed per-share dividend record was identified, suggesting shareholder returns are currently oriented more toward business restructuring and earnings recovery than dividends.
Ultimately, the valuation path may hinge on how quickly the roughly KRW160 billion order backlog converts into actual revenue and profit, and on when upfront costs from overseas expansion begin to stabilize.
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
As of the end of Q2 2026, the order backlog reached approximately KRW 160 billion, and new orders in the first half alone (approximately KRW 54 billion) already exceeded the full-year 2025 volume. The company announced it has raised its annual new order target to KRW 120 billion.
Given the nature of the CRO business, order backlog implies revenue visibility for the next 2-3 years, which is cited as grounds for improved performance from the second half onward.
The acquisition of EPSI Korea completed a Korea-China-Japan clinical trial platform, and the Southeast Asian network including Indonesia and Vietnam is also expanding.
Entry into the real-world data (RWD) business through the acquisition of Mediflexus supports the transition from an existing clinical operations-centered model to data-driven, high-value-added services.
The business cooperation agreement with China's Taimei Intelligence R&D also aims to discover bidirectional clinical order opportunities.
The customer base is shifting from small biotech ventures with unstable financial capacity to large pharmaceutical companies with stable cash flow. Global inbound projects directly ordered by overseas pharmaceutical and biotech companies are also understood to be increasing every year.
Cases have emerged where Southeast Asian network-building achievements have translated into actual orders, such as the multinational Phase 3 clinical trial contract with Daewoong Pharmaceutical.
Operating margin declined for three consecutive years, from 11.3% in 2023 to 6.1% in 2024 and 2.1% in 2025, and turned negative in Q1 2026. The absolute operating profit amount also decreased significantly, from KRW 6.233 billion in 2023 to KRW 1.385 billion in 2025.
Despite revenue growth, margin erosion has continued, making the recovery of profitability a key point of focus for performance.
Consolidated operating cash flow in 2025 was negative KRW 3.068 billion, in contrast to the net inflows in 2022-2024 (KRW 2.523 billion, KRW 3.512 billion, and KRW 2.839 billion respectively).
This is attributed to preemptive investment from the establishment and acquisition of overseas subsidiaries, as well as increased receivables arising from the project-based revenue recognition structure. Whether cash generation capacity recovers is a key point of focus for future financial stability.
In response to the penny stock management issue designation system implemented from July 2026 (designation as a managed issue if the stock price stays below KRW 1,000 for 30 consecutive trading days), the company carried out a 5-for-1 stock consolidation.
Given the characteristics of small-cap stocks with limited market capitalization, there may be constraints in terms of liquidity and index inclusion. If stock price volatility continues, the possibility that similar regulatory risks could resurface cannot be ruled out.
The integration costs and timing for realizing synergies from successive M&A deals, including Mediflexus and EPSI Korea, remain uncertain. If the transition to a data CRO is delayed more than expected, the recovery of returns on investment could be delayed as well. The burden of managing overseas subsidiaries may also increase.
Simultaneous multi-country expansion into Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the United States exposes the company to regulatory, workforce, and exchange rate fluctuations in each country.
In the early stages of overseas subsidiaries, cost recognition tends to precede revenue recognition, which could lead to continued profitability dilution. There is also a possibility that local network-building achievements may not translate into orders as quickly as expected.
In a market where both large global CROs and domestic competitors coexist, competition for project-based orders is intensifying. Since CRO revenue is recognized based on progress rate, delays or cancellations of individual projects can increase performance volatility. If dependence on specific clients or regions increases, revenue stability could be undermined.
The company is scheduled to hold its 8th webinar on clinical data management (RBQM/CDM) — a point to gauge market reaction to its data-CRO positioning.
Check whether the Q2 return to profit continues into Q3, and how quickly the roughly KRW160 billion backlog converts into actual revenue.
Confirm whether the annual new-order target of KRW120 billion was met and how much the Mediplexus and EPSI Korea acquisitions contributed to full-year results.
Monitor whether overseas network expansion moves such as the Vietnam CRO partnership and the Taimei Intelligence R&D memorandum materialize into concrete contracts and revenue.
Drawing on its history as Korea's first CRO, C&R Research has grown revenue for four consecutive years, but operating margin fell from 11.3% to 2.1% over the same period and the company posted a quarterly operating loss in Q1 2026.
The rebound in revenue, operating profit, and net income in Q2 2026 is a positive sign, but trailing four-quarter net income still falls short of the full-year 2025 figure, suggesting the recovery is not yet complete.
A backlog of KRW160 billion and a raised annual new-order target support future revenue visibility, but the typical lag between order-taking and revenue recognition in the CRO industry means results will take time to confirm.
The acquisitions of Mediplexus and EPS International Korea, advancing a data-CRO model and a global platform simultaneously, could become mid- to long-term growth drivers, though integration costs and upfront overseas-expansion expenses are weighing on profitability.
The shift to negative operating cash flow in 2025 and the share consolidation carried out in response to KOSDAQ's penny-stock rule are additional financial and regulatory variables to watch.
Ultimately, the company's trajectory is likely to depend on how quickly the backlog converts into revenue and when overseas investment costs stabilize.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
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