Samsung Biologics’ annual operating profit topped 1 trillion won ($749 million) last year for the first time, according to the company’s regulatory filing on Wednesday.

Its operating profit came to 1.14 trillion won last year, up 13 percent from the previous year. Sales also surged 23 percent during the same period.

The sales figure, in particular, exceeded the full-year earnings guidance the company had announced earlier. The company previously anticipated sales to reach 3.60 trillion won.

“Samsung Biologics’ performance last year stands out as its global competitors are lowering their earnings guidance for the fiscal 2023,” an official from Samsung Biologics said.

Samsung Biologics, the world’s leading contract manufacturing organization by capacity, has seen robust growth in recent years. Its sales soared by 12 times between 2016 and 2023, with an annual growth rate of 44 percent.

Its operating profit-to-sales ratio, which has remained at about 30 percent since 2021, came to around 40 percent last year.

The company’s EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization – an alternate measure of profitability to net income – also reached 49 percent in the fourth quarter last year.

Samsung Biologics predicts double-digit growth again this year, projecting some 4.2 trillion won in sales.

The company has become the first pharmaceutical company in Korea to post over 1 trillion won in operating profit.