During the same period, the company's operating profit fell 2.1 per cent year on year to 185.7 billion won, largely due to a decline in the international price of lysine, the amino acid used for animal feed. But its net profit rose 58.2 per cent to 74.5 billion won, reports KoreaITTimes.

By business division, the company's life sciences division saw its sales revenue and operating profit fall.

Meanwhile, its processed food division saw its sales revenue increase slightly thanks to the launch of several new hit products. The intensive restructuring effort also resulted in an improvement in the profitability.

Its biological resources unit showed a slight improvement in financial results despite a fall in the demand following the PED (porcine epidemic diarrhea) epidemic.

The first-half sales revenue of the life sciences division was 903.7 billion won, down 6.1 per cent from a year ago, mainly because of the consistent fall in the lysine prices since last year.

But its overall sales rose 16 per cent from a year ago as the company began operating the lysine plant in Iowa, the United States, last year.

The processed food division posted sales revenue of 1,896.4 billion won during the first half, up 2.4 per cent from the same period last year.

In particular, the "Alaskan Salmon" can and Bibigo frozen foods sold well for the recent years, which contributed to the rise in sales revenue. Its Xylose sugar and liquid sugar were also instrumental in raising revenue for the unit.