[Featured Stock] Isu Chemical Rises on Record High Profit Forecast in Petrochemicals

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Isu Chemical's stock price is showing strength.

As of 9:32 AM on the 6th, it is trading at 15,150 KRW, up 5.57% compared to the previous trading day.

The strength comes as securities analysts predict the highest profit outlook in petrochemicals and stabilization of performance in the pharmaceutical sector.

On this day, Kiwoom Securities announced that it newly included Isu Chemical in its coverage with a buy rating and a target price of 21,000 KRW.

Researcher Lee Dong-wook of Kiwoom Securities explained, "The reason for the buy rating is that while the performance of the construction and pharmaceutical sectors is stabilizing, the core petrochemical business is in a profit improvement cycle, and the proportion of specialty products is continuously expanding."

Isu Chemical's operating profit for Q4 last year is expected to be 25.4 billion KRW, an increase of 93.7 billion KRW compared to the same period last year. The operating profit of the petrochemical sector this year is expected to once again break the company's highest record following last year. The tight supply and demand of the main product, LAB, is expected to continue this year as well.

Improvement in the performance of the pharmaceutical sector, Isu Abxis, is also anticipated. Isu Abxis has been promoting contract manufacturing of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine SPUTNIK since the first half of last year. They have newly expanded 1000L production equipment, enabling an annual production capacity of 50 million doses. Although sales contribution is expected to vary depending on volume secured, if the vaccine is effective against the Omicron variant or if volume is smoothly secured, growth of 2 to 4 times the current pharmaceutical sector sales is also possible.