Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us today. Let us begin the conference call for Q1 2025 earnings report of CJ CheilJedang. We'll first have CJ team's presentation, followed by Q&A with the investor styled in for today's call. For anyone with a question, please press star and the number one. We'll now begin CJ CheilJedang's presentation. Ladies and gentlemen, I am Jun Seong, head of IR team at Finance Strategy. We'll now begin the Q1 2025 business results report for CJ CheilJedang. Today's session will be interpreted simultaneously into English for foreign investors. Let me first introduce the CJ team. We have Mr. Cheon Gi-seung, Head of Corporate Finance; Mr. Yoo-j in, Head of Food Korea Business Management; Mr. Kang Sin-Ho, Head of Food Business Planning; Mr. Kim Jong-hyun, Head of Bio Business Planning; and Mr. Hwang Hyun-jo, Head of Feed& Care Business Management.
Mr. Cheon will first walk you through the business results, followed by progress on key strategy execution and outlook by respective presenters. We will then move on to Q&A. Ladies and gentlemen, I am Cheon Gi-seung, Head of Corporate Finance of CJ CheilJedang. Today's agenda includes Q1 highlights, earnings analysis by business unit, and progress on key strategy execution, followed by outlook. Let's flip to page five. Despite the challenging business environment, China achieved a sales turnaround, Japan maintained growth, and Europe and Australia entered mainstream and expanded categories. Solid growth overseas led to sales growth in the food business. The Korean packaged food market is experiencing a rapid transition into online markets. Online sales increased by 33% year- over- year, resulting in the share of online sales of packaged food exceeding 20%.
As for bio, leveraging the diversified manufacturing locations in the emerging trend of global protectionism, the bulky amino acid performance improved. Europe's anti-dumping tariffs against China and the exit of a U.S. competitor led to an increase in the profit contribution of lysine and threonine. In feed and care, thanks to the stabilized livestock prices and the improved business structure, the profit showed significant growth. In the feed business, the portfolio was reformed with a focus on profitability, the livestock prices in Vietnam recovered, and the livestock business in Indonesia was scaled down, all leading to profitability improvement. Moving on to the next page. Let's now look at Q1 corporate results excluding CJ Logistics. Despite the food sales growth due to the setback in bio and FNC, the sales dropped by 2% to KRW 4.3625 trillion.
OP, thanks to the decline in food and bio offset by FNC's profit growth, dropped by 8% to KRW 246.3 billion. Net profit due to the OP decrease and corporate tax increase declined by 73% to KRW 26.9 billion. Including CJ Logistics, Q1 sales recorded KRW 7.2085 trillion, similar to the previous year. OP decreased by 11% to KRW 333.2 billion. Next to page eight. Let's look at the performance by business unit. First up, food. In food, sales grew by 3% year- over- year. Sales in Korea dropped due to the different dates of the Lunar New Year, but thanks to the entry into mainstream and category expansion in Europe and Australia, overseas sales growth led overall sales increase. OP decreased by 30% year- over- year, recording KRW 128.6 billion. Korea's OP worsened due to high raw material costs and a smaller sales mix of gift sets.
In the U.S., fixed costs went up due to the pie manufacturing line shutdown. Profitability improvement in China, Japan, and Vietnam partly made up for the setback in Korea and the U.S. On the next page, more details on food sales. First, overseas sales of food achieved 8% growth year-o ver- year and stood at KRW 1.4881 trillion. In spite of the manufacturing challenges of desserts in the U.S., key products like pizza and GSPs demonstrated constant sales growth. Next is other business areas. Europe started listing a new mainstream channel and boosted the sales of key products. Oceania maintained the high growth by entering IGA in mainstream. Japan propped up the sales and continued to grow by boosting manju, frozen ready meals, and GSPs. China increased sales of key products such as manju, tashida, and noodles, leading to a turnaround.
Korea recorded KRW 1.4365 trillion, down by 1% year- over- year. Despite the decrease in gift set sales arising from the timing difference of the Lunar New Year, Korea mitigated the sales decline by boosting sales volume and rapidly growing in the online channel. FI, despite the price reduction due to the drop of grain prices, showed a slight growth backed by the demand expansion in bulk flour customers. Moving on to page ten. Next is bio. Due to the base effect arising from last year's tryptophan and specialty amino acids, the sales declined by 12% to KRW 895.4 billion. The market prices of high-margin products went down following the supply increase by competitors. However, it was offset by strategic sales volume growth and lysine price hike in the European market. As a result, OP recorded KRW 82.5 billion, 16% down year- over- year. Next is page 11.
Let me brief you on the bio business in detail. In animal nutrition, lysine profit increased thanks to the market recovery following the anti-dumping duties in Europe. Tryptophan, despite the base effect from the previous year's strong market, continues to increase the sales volume, leveraging its number one market position. In specialty amino acids, we are focusing on arginine and histidine to fight the intensifying competition. As for the SPC and soybean oil of Selecta, the cost declined thanks to the downturn of soybean prices and the hike in palm oil prices, leading to profitability improvement. Next is taste and nutrition. Nucleotide showed weaker performance due to sluggish demand recovery in China and supply increase across the industry. However, the allocation of technical marketing resources in strategic regions has accelerated demand growth and sales growth. Moving on to page 12. Next is feed and care.
Feed price decline arising from raw material price stabilization and business structure improvement drove the sales down by 8% to KRW 542.5 billion. Amid the impacts of structural improvement being realized, such as the consolidation of inefficient feed businesses and the enhancement of operational efficiency, OP recorded KRW 35.2 billion, up by more than KRW 50 billion year- over- year, thanks to the strong livestock prices and the FNC's top-notch cost competitiveness. Let me share the details of FNC. As for feed, despite the intensified competition and price drop due to the stable grain prices, profitability is being improved through thorough management of price-cost gap. Vietnam improved the profitability of low-margin livestock, and Indonesia's profit went up thanks to the competitive aquafeed. Quality-oriented management and sales competency building are contributing to the feed sales growth.
In livestock, Vietnam improved the COGM based on biosecurity amid the strong pork price driven by supply decline, maximizing the profit even when the pork prices were high. In Indonesia, the broiler prices went up due to the Lebaran peak season, but FNC improved profit by optimizing the scale of breeder and securing cost competitiveness. Moving on to page 14. Let's look at the performance of CJ Logistics. Sales increased by 2% year- over- year, recording KRW 2.9926 trillion. The parcel and forwarding volumes declined due to the economic slowdown, but the CO business secured large customers based on technology and consulting capabilities, driving the sales growth. OP stood at KRW 85.4 billion, 22% down year- over- year. WND and Global Business started securing new orders, and the parcel business initiated a seven-day-a-week operation, resulting in an increase of operational expenses in the early stage and a profitability drop.
On page 15, you can see SG&A and non-operating income and expenses, excluding CJ Logistics. For SG&A, labor cost increased by KRW 15.4 billion, sales promotion KRW 4.3 billion, and advertising KRW 4.5 billion. As a result, SG&A to sales ratio increased by 0.8 percentage points year- over- year. I will skip page 16, the SG&A and non-operating items, including CJ Logistics. Next, I'll discuss the status and outlook for our key strategic initiatives. First up is food business highlights. In the global market, CJ CheilJedang continues strong growth in new regions through mainstream channel and category expansion in Europe and Australia, driven by increased awareness of Bibigo and K-Food. Food sales in APAC, Europe, and the rest of the world continue to show solid growth of 20% year on year in the first quarter.
In Japan, global strategy product-driven growth continues, such as manju and chicken, while the sales price of Micho is back on track. In China, we are focusing on our core products, such as manju and DASIDA, and emerging channels through our select and focus strategy. In Europe and Australia, we are expanding our global footprint by raising awareness of Bibigo and K-Food. In key markets such as Germany, the U.K., France, and the Netherlands, we are actively introducing new categories such as manju, corn dogs, rice balls, and gochujang. In Australia, we expect continued expansion and mainstream channel. Food Korea continues to show solid growth for online sales over the past year, with the online share of packaged food sales gradually rising. In Q1, it grew 33% year- on- year and accounted for 21% of packaged food sales in Korea.
This is the result of company-wide efforts to address digital shifts in retail channel, including the reallocation of resources to focus on online business. On the product side, products that reflect the health and convenience trends, such as one-minute bouillon ring, grilled fish, hepa multigrain rice, and sobaba chicken, are growing at double-digit rates. Next, I will discuss the trends for major products of bio business. First is bulky amino acids. The imposition of provisional anti-dumping duties on Chinese lysine in Europe is expected to lead to a declining market share of Chinese lysine in Europe and a rise in spot prices, signaling a recovery of the market.
CJ CheilJedang has established stable supply chains based on diversified production sites across the world, producing major products such as lysine and Threonine in regions like the U.S., Brazil, and Indonesia, effectively responding to a rising trend of protectionism in the global market. Thanks to this strategy, the profit contribution of bulky amino acids is rapidly increasing, reaching 27% in the first quarter. Next up is taste and rich. Sales volume in the first quarter increased by 22% year- on- year and by 41% quarter on quarter, driven by growing customer demand and market expansion. By offering customer-tailored solutions utilizing clean label and natural ingredients, TNR is securing differentiated competitiveness and expanding its portfolio. In addition, we are expanding global sales through strategic partnerships with our key accounts such as seasoning blender and CPG companies. Next, I will discuss the outlook for the second quarter of 2025.
First is Food Global. We anticipate a gradual normalization of dessert production and growing sales of pizza and global strategic products through product innovation in the U.S. In Japan and China, growth is expected to be sustained by strengthening profitable products such as Micho, mandu, and DASIDA, while expanding new products primarily through club channels. In Europe and Australia, we foresee continued solid growth by raising consumer awareness through promotions and campaigns, expanding mainstream channel entries, and nurturing key categories by channel. Food Korea, despite challenges such as rising raw material costs and a slowdown in domestic demand, growth is expected through accelerated online transition, continued growth of core products, and new product scale-up. For bio, we expect profit improvement as favorable market conditions for bulky amino acids such as lysine begin to take full effect, leveraging our competitive advantage for diversified global production.
For FNC, despite the decline in livestock prices in Indonesia due to sluggish macroeconomy, we expect solid profit generation through significant expansion in feed sales volume. In summary, the company-wide sales growth rate for the second quarter of 2025 is projected to be in the low to mid single digits, with an OP margin of 6%. That was it for today's presentation. Next up is Q&A. Let us begin our Q&A session. We are going to offer simultaneous interpretation from Korean to English. However, all English questions will be conducted in consecutive interpretation. For smooth interpretation services, please speak loud and clear to the receiver. The first question is coming from Mr. Kim Jun Woo from Meritz Securities . Please go ahead.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity. I have three questions today. First of all, considering sales, OP is falling significantly for food business.
When we diversify, when we divide into Korea and global, I hope that we want to hear more about the OP situation. For the second quarter outlook, U.S., you mentioned about gradual normalization of the business. Could you break down with more details? Could you share the progress? For example, can we expect full complete normalization in the third quarter? For global businesses, we want to hear more content for U.S. business. Could you walk us through about your U.S. business? At the same time, you mentioned that you are withdrawing M&A for Selecta and bio. Could you share the progress? If you have any other comments, please let us know. Thank you. Okay. Let me answer first, starting from U.S. business.
Last year, because of a pipeline shutdown in the U.S., we are working hard for normalization of the business. The progress will be after the shutdown. Full operation started this May, and we are working to get back to our shelf for retail. We want to normalize our distribution. We hope and expect in the third quarter, we can normalize our business. For growth strategy for the U.S., as you know, there are a lot of macroeconomic factors. However, our core products like mandu and roll, and we continue to see sales growth. Another example is K-Food products. Under our global strategic product, we are focusing on growing these products. In the future, we want to get listed in mainstream channel.
At the same time, we want to launch new types of products so that we can raise awareness of K-Food, including frozen ready meal or ambient rice and seaweed. We want to focus our efforts so that we can grow business in the U.S. Another question was about food business. You want to hear more about OP of Food Global and Food Korea. All in all, OP fell slightly for entire food business, and it was slightly bigger for Food Korea. In the global market, in the U.S., because of high production shutdown, there was a rising burden for fixed costs. That is why OP fell. Our global business, it fell slightly lower than that of the U.S. OP fell slightly lower than that of the U.S. OP margin of global business was higher than that of Korea. Next answer is about bio.
We have amino acid portfolio. Based on our strategy, we want to maximize our profits. We continue to refine the strategy. At the same time, we want to serve as a cash cow business. Since the first quarter last year, our profit and our revenue grow significantly. For specialty amino acid like tryptophan, we want to maintain our number one market share. We want to follow up on our capacity growth strategy. We want to address market competition so that we can maintain our growth momentum. For bulky amino acid, Europe or in the U.S., those are our target markets. Because of anti-dumping duties against China, we want to leverage this opportunity so that we can maintain the leading growth of lysine and amino acid so that we can serve as a cash cow for CJ CJ's business.
Next up is about Selecta. Centering on non-GMO SPC, we want to increase sales. For soybean oil, as you know, palm oil price is high. In Brazil, there are low stock in Brazil. We want to maintain competitive sales price. According to that, until the second quarter, we hope that Selecta comes up with more solid profits. Thank you for your question. In addition to that, regarding the Selecta deal, we decided to withdraw from it, but that will not give us a huge burden on our financials. We expect KRW 2 trillion of EBITDA. We want to streamline and come up with efficiency regarding spending our budget. We will take the next question. The next question is by Park Sangjun from Kiwoom Securities.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to ask a question. The first question is based on the previous Q&As. In Europe and the U.S., you mentioned about the lysine and threonine and the anti-dumping duties. Actually, the lysine and threonine are recovering according to your answer. Early this year in the European and U.S. markets, how were the prices of those lysine and threonine? Do you see the prices are going to keep increasing down the road? What's your outlook on this? The second question, in case of food in the U.S. business, the pizza market competition has been intensifying, and that has been a great challenge. How was the market competition by far, and what is your outlook on the balance of the year? That was the part that was missing in the presentation materials. I would like to have an update on the market competition. Thank you.
Thank you for your question. If you look at Q1 2025 in the European market, there was the provisional anti-dumping duties, and it showed a very high rate. That is passed on to the price in the market already. In Q1 2024, the powder lysine price, the spot price, if you compare this with the current price, then year- over- year is a 50% increase. The profitability of CJ CheilJedang is also highly likely to go up. Because of such tariffs and duties, we are seeing advantage, and we are the only one who is enjoying these effects of the anti-dumping duties. If we keep controlling the inflow of the Chinese products in the market, we believe that we can have a bigger volume based on the pricing strategy. It is also favorable in the U.S. market.
There are the decreasing level or degree of the competition in the U.S. market. We are going to utilize the pricing strategy. Also, we have the manufacturing site in the U.S. We are going, because we have the Ford Dodge plant, we are going to actually upgrade our business based on the pricing strategy and volume expansion. We are expecting favorable pricing in the second half. This will lead to higher prices in the second half. This is going to be advantageous for our business. For the next question about the U.S. food business, in the pizza category of the U.S. market, actually, we are seeing a slowdown here. The competitors are exercising aggressive promotions, especially the price competition is getting intensified.
However, in the U.S., we have competitive products, we have competitive prices, and we are focusing on volume expansion. By all these strategies, we are going to exercise strategic distribution and retail strategies so that we can focus on maintaining the number one position of Red Baron. Also, we are preparing for new product launches. This is going to help us resolve the intensified competition, and we can solidify our number one position in the U.S. market. We will take the next question.
Next is Kim Hyun from Morgan Stanley. Hello. I have two questions. First is about OP, like Food Korea. We are seeing that it is falling. We understand that gives that timing issue. Is that the result of increasing online mix, or is there any other reasons behind it? We are seeing raw material prices are growing.
Is there any plan for another price increase? Is there any other backup plan to improve OP of food business of Korea? My second question is that regarding lysine products, you are doing great in Europe and in the U.S. For lysine, could you elaborate on volume mix by region? Is there any updates?
Let me answer starting from Food Korea. Falling OP for the first quarter, that is because of GIFSA timing issue that you already mentioned. In Korea, we are seeing sluggish demand. Online penetration rate is growing. That is why we are trying shifts between online and offline channels. As we proceed this channel shift, we are using different cost structure for each business. That gave a kind of impact for the first and second quarter.
That is why OP fell slightly more than what you have expected. However, we are going to continue to improve our cost structure, not just promotion costs. We want to spend more for digital marketing. We are going to shift our resources into accounts with better results. The next part is about price increase. Our principle for this year would be we understand the rising raw material costs, but we want to come up with streamlining our cost structure and save our costs. There are some issues like rising raw material issues or rising forex. For certain items, we already increased the price this March. However, that was limited for a certain type of products. That did not give us huge impact for OP improvement. It was already done in March, so there was some limited impact of such price increase.
For the second quarter, we need to understand the competition trend and price trend in Korea. For a while, we are not going to expect any other price increase. The next question was about lysine sales by region. When you look at the share of lysine for the entire market, Europe is 40%, North America is 40%, and Latin America is 20%. That is the current mix. This number, when it comes to Europe, compared against last year, increased as much as 40%. We are shifting our volume to Europe because that region has very high sales price. That is how we improved our sales and OP. We are continuing to see improvement. For the U.S., including Latin America and North America business sites, we want to allocate our resources targeting high-pricing markets. Thank you.
Let us take the next question.
I have a question. Please press star and the number one. The next question is being asked by Kim Jun Woo from Meritz Securities .
Thank you for the opportunity to ask a question. I have three questions. First is about the food business. Compared to the Q1, what is your COGM outlook on the second quarter and the second half? Also, the second question is about the bio. I can see the market competition is intensifying. What is the market trends and your outlook? Also, in the bio business, the anti-dumping duties in Europe is being an advantageous element for the CJ CheilJedang's business. Would this effect continue until the second half and the end of this year? Also, the third question is about the market prices in the second quarter and the forecast for Vietnam.
Let me answer the question about the food business first. In case of the food business in Korea, the raw material input costs as of now are expected to stay the same because of the stabilization of the forex rate and also the downturn of the grain prices. In case of the global market, because of the characteristics of the U.S. business, because it has lower reliance on the import and export, it is not going to be largely impacted by such issues. I believe because we have the manufacturing sites in the U.S., I believe the input costs are going to be further stabilized. Let me answer the question about the specialty amino acid and tryptophan outlook. We believe the global demand is stable.
However, because of the weaker price of the soybean meal and the new competitors entering the market, we are going to strategically exercise our pricing strategy. We already adjusted the price downward a little bit. This is going to be maintained in the second quarter. The market prices are going to also be weak in the second quarter. In the second half, we are going to review the competition so that we can further identify the improvement points and the further momentum for growth. About the anti-dumping duties in Europe, they are going to be finalized by July. After July, we can have some confirmation to you. I believe that this is going to play advantageous for our business as well. Next, I'll be answering your question about the pork prices in Vietnam for FNC.
We believe that the prices are going to stay similar compared to Q1. In Q2, the supply decrease is going to keep impacting the market prices. In the second quarter, the pork prices are going to stay similar.
We will take the last question because of time constraint. Hearing none. If you have a question, please press star and number one on your phone. Thank you. We are not hearing any questions. If you have any more questions, as we are hearing no more questions, we will close today's conference call. Thank you for your time.