[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] GreenPlus is showing strong performance. It appears that the stock price was influenced by achieving first-quarter results that met market expectations. There are also expectations that rising prices of steel, non-ferrous metals, and grains will help GreenPlus grow.
As of 9:36 AM on the 4th, GreenPlus is trading at 18,000 KRW, up 10.09% from the previous day.
GreenPlus recorded sales of 18.8 billion KRW and operating profit of 1.8 billion KRW in the first quarter of this year. These figures represent increases of 54.5% and 56.7%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.
Researcher Jiwon Park of Kyobo Securities explained, "Due to recent raw material price increases, the unit price of aluminum products was raised," adding, "Sales from the aluminum division reached 7.4 billion KRW, a 16.7% increase compared to the same period last year."
He continued, "While conducting a large-scale smart farm project led by the domestic private sector, sales in the domestic greenhouse division increased by 219.8% compared to the same period last year," and overseas greenhouse business grew by 45.1%," he added.
He emphasized, "Although expectations for the growth speed of domestic and overseas greenhouse businesses have slightly eased compared to before, it is still expected to show high growth of 68.8% annually."
Researcher Park analyzed, "Large-scale contract orders with domestic public and private companies are expected to be signed in the first half of the year," and "The pace of sales growth in the greenhouse business will accelerate in the second half when actual construction of the ordered volume takes place."
He added, "Operating profit this year is estimated to increase by 73.7% to 10.3 billion KRW compared to last year," and "Despite the recent sharp rise in stock price, the PER based on the closing price on the 3rd is about 20.5 times." He further explained, "The expansion of the domestic smart farm industry and the possibility of overseas market entry have not been fully reflected," emphasizing, "GreenPlus's growth story and valuation are both attractive."
The introduction of smart farms domestically and internationally is influenced by a combination of global common factors and various issues faced domestically. A representative global factor is the worldwide trend of population growth. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations projected that the global population will reach 9.5 billion by 2050. Since the current level of food production shows little change, it is predicted that the number of people suffering from hunger will increase. Smart farm technology is expected to increase current food production levels and is receiving worldwide attention.
Since 2014, the government has regarded the spread of smart farms as a core growth engine for agriculture and has continuously increased the budget for smart farm dissemination. According to the 2016?2020 National Fiscal Operation Plan, the smart farm area is planned to expand from 2,235 hectares in 2016 to 5,945 hectares by 2020, and the productivity of farms adopting smart farms is planned to improve from 27% to 40%.
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