[Click eStock] "Vatech Expected to Achieve Highest Annual Performance This Year... Target Price Up 9%"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jihwan] Hana Financial Investment maintained a 'Buy' rating on Vatech on the 12th, stating that it will achieve its highest annual performance this year, and raised the target price by 8.82% from the previous 46,500 KRW to 50,600 KRW.

Jung Mingu, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, said, "Vatech is expected to achieve its highest annual performance this year due to global deferred demand and high growth in key regions," adding, "As the completeness of the digital dental lineup improves, the discount factors compared to competitors will be resolved, and further valuation upgrades are also expected in the future."

It is evaluated that the strong performance in the first quarter proves growth beyond deferred demand. Vatech posted first-quarter sales of 75.2 billion KRW and operating profit of 13 billion KRW, representing increases of 38.0% and 105.7% respectively compared to the previous year. This strong performance was driven by rapid sales recovery and regional expansion effects in major export areas. Balanced growth occurred in all major regions including Asia, North America, and Europe, including China, with the European region leading company-wide external growth by recording first-quarter sales of 21.4 billion KRW, a 71.9% increase compared to the same period last year.

Vatech is expected to achieve quarterly record performance through growth in key regions in the second quarter as well. Annual sales are forecasted to increase by 28% from last year to 312.6 billion KRW, and operating profit is expected to rise by 64% to 51.9 billion KRW.

Researcher Jung Mingu analyzed, "From the first quarter, explosive growth continues as deferred demand and regional expansion effects overlap in key regions such as North America, Europe, and China," adding, "External growth is expected to continue in the peak seasons of the second and fourth quarters." In particular, new manufacturing and sales of premium Green series products in the Chinese market in the second half of the year and the launch of premium products (GreenX) in the U.S. market are expected to simultaneously achieve external growth and profitability improvement through an increase in average selling price (ASP).