Gamanu Completes 8 Billion KRW Convertible Bond Payment... "Smooth Fundraising"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] GammaNu announced on the 18th that the payment for convertible bonds (CB) worth 8 billion KRW out of the 29 billion KRW secured through fundraising has been completed. Following this payment, 3 billion KRW will be paid on April 20, and 18 billion KRW on April 30 sequentially.

With the total funds of 29 billion KRW secured, GammaNu's duty-free shop business in Hainan, China is expected to gain momentum.

As the Chinese government is actively promoting local consumption by implementing policies such as the ‘Hainan Ridau Tourist Duty-Free Shopping Policy,’ GammaNu plans to expand related businesses in various ways, starting with supplying products to the Hainan duty-free shops in China.

The ‘Hainan Ridau Tourist Duty-Free Shopping Policy,’ implemented since July last year, allows travelers aged 16 and over, including Hainan residents, to shop at Hainan Ridau duty-free shops if they hold train, airline, or ferry tickets. The duty-free shopping limit was also expanded from 30,000 yuan (approximately 5.15 million KRW) per person annually to 100,000 yuan (approximately 17.19 million KRW).

As a result, despite COVID-19, Hainan duty-free shops ranked first in the world in the first half of last year. In January alone, sales surged 168% year-on-year to 4.05 billion USD (approximately 700.7 billion KRW), showing a high growth trend. The number of duty-free shops in the Hainan region increased from four to a total of ten, leading to an increase in both the number of visiting shoppers and transactions. The Chinese government plans to double the size of Hainan duty-free shops by next year.

With the rapid growth of Hainan duty-free shops supported actively by the Chinese government, GammaNu is expected to achieve quick results in the Hainan duty-free shop business, which is a new growth engine.

A company official stated, “Since the remaining 21 billion KRW besides the 8 billion KRW will be paid as planned, financial soundness can also be secured,” and added, “GammaNu possesses big data on items desired by Chinese consumers through its duty-free shop customer referral business with an annual transaction volume of 2 trillion KRW before COVID-19, so meaningful results are expected in the new Hainan duty-free shop business as well.”

He continued, “Although the company posted losses last year due to poor business performance and impairment processing caused by COVID-19, it has shown a rapid recovery since the second half of the year, so profitability is expected,” and added, “Along with the recovery of existing businesses, we plan to focus on enhancing shareholder value based on performance improvement through the full-scale launch of new businesses.”