Seoul, Oct 25 (IANS): South Korean biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion on Friday said it will spend around 100 billion won ($72.3 million) to buy back its shares for the fourth time this year in a bid to increase its shareholders' value.

According to the company, the buyback of a total of 537,924 shares will begin next week, Yonhap news agency reported.

It will mark the fourth share buyback by Celltrion this year, following such moves in March, April, and June.

The combined worth of the company's share buyback this year is expected to surpass 330 billion won.

Celltrion said it has made such a decision to boost its shareholders' value.

The company noted its corporate value remains underrated despite recent milestones, such as increasing sales of its flagship products in the global market, and the launch of new medical treatments, including the autoimmune disease treatment Zymfentra in the United States.

The drugmaker also bought back its shares worth 1.27 trillion won last year and cancelled 700 billion won worth of shares earlier this year.

Shares in Celltrion were trading at 187,100 won at 11:30 a.m., up 0.65 per cent from the previous session's close.

Meanwhile, Celltrion’s second-quarter net profit in August plunged 48 per cent from a year earlier due to costs following a merger with its sales and marketing affiliate last year.

Its net profit came to 78.5 billion won ($57.1 million), compared with 150.9 billion won a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Its operating profit also decreased 60.4 percent on-year to 72.5 billion won, but sales jumped 66.9 per cent to 874.7 billion won.

But Celltrion's quarterly sales surpassed 800 billion won for the first time in the April-June period, driven by the robust performance of its biosimilar products in global markets.