[Asia Economy Reporter Ji-hwan Park] DB Financial Investment maintained a 'Buy' rating on Hanssem on the 10th, stating that growth continues even in the off-season, and raised the target price by 19.05% from the previous 126,000 KRW to 150,000 KRW.
Yoonho Cho, a researcher at DB Financial Investment, said, "Hanssem's first-quarter earnings this year are expected to be 541.6 billion KRW in sales and 24.1 billion KRW in operating profit, representing increases of 9.9% and 40.9% year-on-year," adding, "despite being the off-season first quarter, the performance is expected to show little difference not only compared to the previous year but also to the previous quarter."
He explained that strong performance is expected due to improvements in all B2C business divisions and subsidiaries, excluding B2B. Both offline and online furniture sales are anticipated to grow.
Leading indicators are also improving. Since the second half of last year, the volume of housing supply has started to increase, and due to changes in real estate policies focused on supply, the possibility of further supply expansion is high. He forecasted, "Although not this year, it is reasonable to expect a turnaround in the B2B business starting next year."
Researcher Cho stated, "We believe the furniture and interior industry has entered a structural growth phase," and "furniture sales by furniture companies including Hanssem in the first quarter are maintaining an increasing trend both annually and quarterly."
He advised, "It is recommended to focus on growth rather than valuation," and evaluated, "Compared to Hanssem's growth period valuation from 2013 to 2015, it is still at a low level."
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