In today’s briefing:
- Woori Financial Placement – While the Overhang Remains, the Deal Would Be Easily Digested
- Clearing up Confusion About Bringing Back Short Selling in Korea
- Alpha Generation Through Share Buybacks in Korea: Bi-Monthly (Jan and Feb 2024)
- Block Deal Sale of 1.7% Stake of Woori Financial by IMM Private Equity
- End of Mandatory Lock-Up Periods for 51 Companies in Korea in March 2024
- Classys (214150 KS): 2023 Sales Beat Guidance to Reach Record High; Stellar Performance to Continue
Woori Financial Placement – While the Overhang Remains, the Deal Would Be Easily Digested
- IMM PE, via Obis1, is looking to raise US$136m from selling a portion of its stake in Woori Financial Group (316140 KS).
- While the deal doesn’t look particularly well-flagged, the PE has been invested for quite some time now.
- Despite the overhang, the deal is a small one to digest at just 1.7% of total shares outstanding, representing 5 days of the firm’s ADV.
Clearing up Confusion About Bringing Back Short Selling in Korea
- Government sees foreign investors as key for Corporate Value-Up success, considering reinstating short selling.
- Planning to expand short selling beyond 350 stocks, but anticipating pushback from retail investors, likely capping additional stocks around 100.
- The head of the Financial Supervisory Service will formally disclose these plans during the upcoming short selling conference scheduled for March 13th.
Alpha Generation Through Share Buybacks in Korea: Bi-Monthly (Jan and Feb 2024)
- In this insight, we discuss the alpha generation through companies that announced share buybacks in Korea in January and February 2024.
- We provide a list of 22 stocks in the Korean stock market that have announced share buyback programs in the past two months.
- Major companies that have announced share buybacks in Korea in the past two months include Shinhan Financial, Hyundai Mobis, and Samick Musical Instruments. All three have outperformed the market.
Block Deal Sale of 1.7% Stake of Woori Financial by IMM Private Equity
- IMM Private Equity announced that it is selling a 1.7% stake in Woori Financial Group (316140 KS) in a block deal sale.
- The number of shares subject to sale is 12.56 million, or 177.7 billion won to 181.5 billion won.
- Block deal sale discount range is reasonable, valuation multiples are low, and we expect continued positive capital inflow into stocks related to Corporate Value Up in the next 12 months.
End of Mandatory Lock-Up Periods for 51 Companies in Korea in March 2024
- We discuss the end of the mandatory lock-up periods for 51 stocks in Korea in March 2024, among which 5 are in KOSPI and 46 are in KOSDAQ.
- These 51 stocks on average could be subject to further selling pressures in March and could underperform relative to the market.
- The top five market cap stocks including those of which at least 1% of outstanding shares could be sold include APR, WCP, DS Dansuk, GI Innovation, and Geolit Energy.
Classys (214150 KS): 2023 Sales Beat Guidance to Reach Record High; Stellar Performance to Continue
- Classys (214150 KS) achieved its highest performance ever in 2023. Revenue grew 27% YoY to KRW180 billion, 6% higher than the forecast of KRW170 billion announced early last year.
- As demand for equipment increased rapidly in major countries, overseas sales last year exceeded KRW100 billion for the first time, and specially in Brazil, annual sales exceeded KRW40 billion.
- With a positive outlook, Classys is expected to maintain growth trajectory. The company expects 2024 annual revenue of KRW225 billion, up 25% YoY.
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