[Samsung BioLogics]
SEOUL -- Samsung BioLogics, a bio company affiliated with South Korea's largest Samsung Group, accused financial regulators Tuesday of causing market uncertainties by publicizing a probe into alleged accounting irregularities related to its initial public offering in 2016.
"We express our great concern and regrets about the current situation in which sensitive information about issues in the process of supervision is exposed and disclosed indiscriminately," the company said in a statement posted on its website.
The company said it has been advised not to disclose contents of a probe by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and its preliminary action without prior consultations.
However, the watchdog disclosed information on its provisional decision on May 1 that Samsung BioLogics breached accounting rules when it was listed in November 2016. At that time, the company reported a 2015 net profit of 1.9 trillion won (1.76 billion US dollars) after staying in the red for four years.
The disclosure sent the share price of Samsung Biologics plunging 26.3 percent for three days. The company lost about 8.5 trillion won in terms of market capitalization. On May 17, an accounting oversight panel will hold its first meeting.
In 2012, Samsung BioLogics set up Samsung Bioepis, a joint venture with U.S.-based pharmaceutical company Biogen Therapeutics. Biogen owns a 5.4% stake in Samsung Bioepis but it promised to use the call option and secure up to 49.9 percent of Samsung Bioepis.
Bioepsis was valued at market prices instead of its book value. As a result, its value surged from 290 billion won to 4.8 trillion won. Samsung BioLogics has insisted that a different accounting system was applied because the possibility of Biogen exercising its call option increased.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
