Meritz Financial Hits All-Time High
Soars 75.24%...Rises to 9th Place
Kakao Slowed by Government and Ruling Party Regulations
Stake Value Drops 26.69%...Falls to 4th Place
Amore's Earnings Decline Causes 19.74% Drop
Drops 4 Ranks, Falls Out of Top 10
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Ji-hwan] In the second half of this year, among the leading domestic stock billionaires, Kim Beom-su, Chairman of the Kakao Board, and Seo Kyung-bae, Chairman of Amorepacific Group, showed sluggish performance, while Jo Jung-ho, Chairman of Meritz Financial Group, made remarkable progress.
According to financial information company FnGuide on the 23rd, the valuation of Chairman Jo's shareholdings increased by 1.5458 trillion KRW (74.3%) from 2.0808 trillion KRW at the end of June to 3.6266 trillion KRW as of the 17th of this month. The valuation of Meritz Financial Group's shares surged by 1.5426 trillion KRW (75.2%) from 2.0503 trillion KRW to 3.5929 trillion KRW, and the valuation of Meritz Securities' shares rose by 3.2 billion KRW (10.7%) from 30.4 billion KRW to 33.7 billion KRW.
As Meritz Financial Group's stock price rose to an all-time high level, Chairman Jo's stock assets also grew significantly. The stock price of Meritz Financial Group jumped 75.2% during the same period, from 21,200 KRW to 37,150 KRW. Chairman Jo's ranking in terms of personal stock valuation also rose six places compared to the end of the second quarter, reaching 9th place. Notably, Chairman Jo's stock assets increased by more than 800 billion KRW just this month, marking his first entry into the top 10 domestic listed stock billionaires and achieving a stock value of 3 trillion KRW. The securities industry evaluates that the shareholder value enhancement moves, such as share buybacks and cancellations, have increased market trust and investment attractiveness. Since the announcement on the 30th of last month of a 50 billion KRW trust contract for acquiring treasury shares, Meritz Financial Group's stock price has set new highs for nine consecutive trading days.
On the other hand, Chairman Kim was hit hard by regulatory moves from the government and ruling party aimed at curbing aggressive business expansion. Kakao's stock price plunged 22.4% from the 7th, when regulatory sentiment against Kakao intensified in the ruling party, until the 17th just before the Chuseok holiday, with market capitalization decreasing by 15.3522 trillion KRW. Even on this day, it is showing a decline of over 3% in the early trading session. Chairman Kim's share valuation dropped 26.7% from 9.6373 trillion KRW at the end of June to 7.0654 trillion KRW, losing the 3rd place to Lee Boo-jin, President of Hotel Shilla.
Seo, who had consistently been in the top 10, fell four places from 7th to outside the top 10 due to concerns over Amorepacific's poor performance. Although the third quarter is typically considered an off-season for cosmetics companies due to seasonality, recent analyses suggest that the business environment has worsened further due to the spread of the Delta variant virus.
There were no significant changes in the rankings of other individual shareholder billionaires. Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and former Samsung Museum Leeum Director Hong Ra-hee ranked 1st and 2nd with share valuations of 14.7161 trillion KRW and 10.83 trillion KRW, respectively. President Lee (7.3017 trillion KRW) saw a 5.49% decrease in share value but experienced a smaller decline than Chairman Kim, rising from 4th to 3rd place. Samsung Welfare Foundation Chairwoman Lee Seo-hyun (6.798 trillion KRW) and Hyundai Motor Group Honorary Chairman Chung Mong-koo (5.4562 trillion KRW) maintained their 5th and 6th positions, respectively. 7th and 8th places were held by Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun and HYBE Board Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, whose share valuations fell by 13.0% and 5.5%, respectively, but they each moved up one rank by taking the places vacated by Seo. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won maintained his 10th place with stock assets worth 3.5499 trillion KRW.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
