[Special Stock] Kakao Group, Another 5 Trillion Won Evaporates Today

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] Kakao Group's listed companies all fell on the 13th, wiping out nearly 5 trillion KRW in market capitalization in a single day.

As of 2:29 PM on the day, Kakao was trading at 123,500 KRW on the KOSPI, down 5.00% from the previous trading day. KakaoBank recorded a 5.52% drop to 65,100 KRW.

Kakao and its affiliates have been on a continuous decline due to a series of negative factors, including concerns over big tech regulations. Last week, financial authorities, the Fair Trade Commission, and political circles simultaneously pointed out the need for regulation of large online platforms.

The Fair Trade Commission is reportedly taking disciplinary procedures against Kim Beom-su, Chairman of Kakao's Board of Directors. Chairman Kim is accused of failing to properly report materials related to K Cube Holdings, which is effectively regarded as Kakao's holding company.

Earlier, on the 2nd, KakaoBank was hit by a shock when the Korea Post disposed of about 2.9% of KakaoBank shares through a block deal (large volume trading outside regular hours), and on the 6th, the stock price dropped significantly due to the release of institutional mandatory holding shares.

On the 10th, the inclusion of KakaoBank in the KOSPI 200 index as a special case, making it a target for short selling, also appears to have acted as a negative factor.

On this day as well, the stock prices of Kakao affiliates fell together, causing the total market capitalization of Kakao Group's listed companies (Kakao, Neptune, Kakao Games, KakaoBank) to drop to 91.8895 trillion KRW. This represents a loss of 4.8 trillion KRW in just one day compared to the previous trading day (the 10th, 96.7025 trillion KRW).

The group's listed companies' market capitalization had maintained over 100 trillion KRW since August 6 (104.7196 trillion KRW), but due to the recent continuous decline, it recorded 97.4024 trillion KRW as of the closing price on the 9th, breaking below the 100 trillion KRW mark for the first time in about a month.