Olympus Korea sales rebound to KRW 230 billion

Operating profit KRW 20.9 billion·new income KRW 17.1 billion…the gross profit margin increased to 39%

Sales growth seen in both product and service…major changes to the business portfolio

Expanding to AI endoscopy and minimally invasive therapeutic device…major changes to its future growth engine

Olympus Korea has successfully rebounded from the previous year’s sales decline with sales amounting to approximately KRW 230 billion.

The company recorded growth in both product sales and services, while a mitigated cost of goods sold (COGS) burden drove increases in both operating and net profit. Furthermore, the company is solidifying its foundation for future growth by shifting away from its focus on endoscopy instrumentation, toward artificial intelligence (AI) and therapeutic solutions.  

Returning to the KRW 230 billion sales…Strengthened financial position

According to Olympus Korea’s recently disclosed 26th fiscal audit report (April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026), the company's annual revenue reached KRW 231.3 billion. 

This result carries significance as the company generated an KRW 8.9 billion expansion from the KRW 222.4 billion reported in the previous year, recovering the prior year's losses. Notably, this figure surpasses the KRW 230.1 billion recorded in the 24th term, the highest revenue performance among the last four fiscal terms.

Olympus Korea had maintained stable revenues of KRW 231.0 billion in its 23rd term and KRW 230.1 billion in its 24th term, before dropping to KRW 222.4 billion in its 25th term. The sales drop in the 25th term coincided with operational disruptions at South Korean clinical sites due to the healthcare dispute between doctors and the government.

The company's profitability also improved. Operating profit for the 26th term rose to KRW 20.9 billion, up KRW 5.0 billion from the previous term's KRW 15.9 billion. Net income also increased to KRW 17.1 billion, up KRW 4.4 billion from the previous term's KRW 12.7 billion. This turnaround signifies that Olympus Korea has restored both its top-line revenue scale and intrinsic profitability to levels achieved before the healthcare conflict.  

Olympus Korea Sales between 2021-2025 (PURPLE: SALES, GREEN: OPERATING PROFITS, BLUE: NET INCOME). Source: FSS, unit: KRW 100 million

COGS for the 26th term decreased to KRW 141.0 billion from KRW 144.4 billion in the prior term. Despite rising sales, this cost reduction led to an expansion of gross profit from KRW 78.0 billion to KRW 90.3 billion. Consequently, the gross profit margin climbed from approximately 35.1% in the preceding term to around 39.0% in the 26th term.  

Selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses rose to KRW 69.5 billion from KRW 62.1 billion in the prior year. Other metrics include increases across salaries and bonuses, retirement benefits, outsourced services, and sales promotion expenses. However, the positive impact of the improved COGS ratio successfully absorbed the expanded overhead, allowing operating profit to rebound compared to the previous year.  

Notably, the drastic drop in the interim dividend paid out to the parent company, Olympus Corporation.

For the 26th term, Olympus Korea distributed a total interim dividend of KRW 9.5 billion (KRW 26,388,889 per share). This represents a 44.1% reduction compared to the interim dividend of approximately KRW 16.99 billion (KRW 47,202,441 per share) allocated during the 25th term.  

As a combined result of rising net income and optimized dividend sizing, retained earnings grew from KRW 78.1 billion in the prior term to KRW 85.0 billion. This indicates that, alongside top-line recovery, the company has reinforced its internal capital reserves.  

Growth in both products and services…expanding therapeutic portfolio expansion

By revenue category, both product sales and service provisions demonstrated stable upward trajectories. Product revenue for the 26th term amounted to KRW 193.8 billion, up KRW 4.5 billion from the previous term's KRW 189.3 billion. Concurrently, service revenue climbed to KRW 37.5 billion, a KRW 4.4 billion advance from the KRW 33.2 billion posted in the prior term. The overall top-line gains were evenly balanced between equipment commercialization and technical service lines.  

This trend aligns with Olympus Korea's strategic transition from a pure-play medical equipment supplier to an integrated provider of services and therapeutic solutions. 

Leveraging its established diagnostic leadership in gastrointestinal endoscopy imaging systems, the company is accelerating the construction of integrated therapeutic portfolios that fuse surgical instrumentation with advanced digital solutions.  

A primary example of this commercial blueprint is iTind, a minimally invasive therapeutic device designed for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Fabricated from nitinol, the device offers a non-incisional therapeutic option that can be performed under local anesthesia. ​Following its regulatory designation under South Korea's New Medical Technology assessment, the system has steadily expanded its market penetration across both tertiary hospitals and localized clinics.  

This year, portfolio diversification has accelerated across both the digital solution and surgical device sectors.

In January, Olympus Korea executed a MOU with INEX Corporation to initiate the domestic commercialization of ENAD, an AI-powered endoscopy image analysis software. The strategic core of the partnership involves interfacing and deploying ENAD within Olympus's existing hardware ecosystems to broaden digital touchpoints in endoscopy diagnostics.  

Additionally, in April, the company officially launched its next-generation laparoscopic surgical instrument line, HICURA, into the Korean market. HICURA is a core surgical handpiece used in diverse minimally invasive procedures, including general surgery, gynecology, and urology, emphasizing operational efficiency in the operating room through a three-stage modular system and an extensive portfolio of jaw configurations.  

Olympus Korea's 26th-term performance is significant, as it boosted a clear recovery from the revenue volatility triggered by the domestic medical conflict. Annual revenue successfully rebounded to approximately KRW 230 billion, accompanied by expansions in operating profit and net income compared with the previous year.

Currently, industry attention will center on whether the company can overcome its exterior growth beyond this KRW 230 billion range besides the 25th term. 

Given that the initial introduction of medical equipment inherently generates revenue streams, including clinical training, maintenance, repairs, and software upgrades, the expansion of the therapeutic portfolio, alongside high-margin service revenue, will be the primary pillars driving the company's long-term growth in South Korea.