Sewoon Medical Co., Kosdaq-listed medical equipment maker, gained upward momentum in its stock as expansion in Vietnam is expected to further fuel its sales growth.

According to Leading Investment & Securities Co., the company’s operating profit for full 2018 is expected to jump 13.7 percent on year to 14.5 billion won ($12.8 million) and its sales up 11.7 percent to 68.6 billion won.

The company produces single-use medical equipments such as infusion catheters and respiratory tubes. It has been growing rapidly since 2008 when it joined the tech-savvy secondary bourse Kosdaq. Its operating profit has been reaching new high every year over the past three years. Last year, its sales grew 8.1 percent to 61.2 billion won from a year ago period.

On Thursday, Sewoon Medical shares closed at 4,205 won, up 2.69 percent from the previous day’s closing and 15.5 percent from the beginning of this year.

Last year, the company completed building its second manufacturing plant in Vietnam to churn out more products to meet the unsatisfied demand for its medical devices. It has been running a plant in China and opened one in Vietnam early 2015.

Its first plant in Vietnam is capable of producing 20 billion won worth of products every year and the addition from the second plant is expected to double its production capacity in Vietnam. Korea has free trade agreement with Vietnam, allowing the company to enjoy higher profit margin.

A bill is pending in the National Assembly to toughen watch and punishment on reuse of medical devices that are designed for single-use purpose or disposal on use.

Sewoon Medical currently sells its products mainly to large-scale hospitals but plans to expand its sales to small, private medical clinics in the near future.

By Park Jae-young and Cho Jeehyun

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