[Special Stock] Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Rises 4% on Expectations of Return to Profitability

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Hyundai Mipo Dockyard is showing a rise of over 4% amid securities firms' expectations that it will return to profitability this year.

At 10:46 a.m. on the 8th, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard was trading at 72,800 KRW, up 3.85% from the previous trading day. Despite recording an operating loss in the fourth quarter of last year, the stock is rising on hopes of a turnaround to profitability.

On the previous day, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard announced that its sales in the fourth quarter of last year reached 860.5 billion KRW, a 38.9% improvement compared to the previous quarter. The operating loss was 77 billion KRW, marking a return to a deficit compared to the previous quarter. Jaeseon Yoo, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, explained, "Despite the sharp increase in sales, the operating loss was due to one-time costs (provisions related to the lawsuit on ordinary wages and upfront costs from wage system restructuring)."

Hana Financial Investment expects performance to improve as one-time issues such as the ordinary wage lawsuit are resolved. The expected operating profit for the first quarter is 23.6 billion KRW. Researcher Yoo stated, "While it is necessary to monitor future indicators, the likelihood of additional costs occurring in the short term is not expected to be high."