[Click eStock] "VT, Expected to Achieve Record Q4 Performance"

Hana Securities forecasted on the 5th that VT likely recorded its highest performance in the fourth quarter of last year.

Park Eun-jung, a researcher at Hana Securities, stated in a report on the same day, "VT showed volatility with a 29% drop during the trading session due to the spread of malicious rumors the previous day," adding, "This is based on malicious comments that baselessly raised suspicions of accounting fraud and qualified opinions."

In response, VT denied the allegations as groundless and announced the acquisition of 300,000 treasury shares (approximately 4.9 billion KRW) during the trading session to enhance shareholder value.

Park explained, "First, VT received unqualified opinions on its financial statements for 2021 and 2022, and also obtained external auditor reviews in the first half of last year, with no subsequent accounting issues," adding, "They also clarified that they have never been pointed out for accounting issues by financial authorities in the past, dismissing the possibility of malicious rumors."

VT's consolidated sales for the fourth quarter are expected to increase by 23% year-on-year to 88.7 billion KRW, and operating profit is forecasted to rise 160% to 18.6 billion KRW. This exceeds the operating profit consensus of 16.8 billion KRW.

Researcher Park said, "This is due to the improved profitability of the cosmetics division and strong performance of the subsidiary (Cube Enter)," and predicted, "VT's consolidated sales and operating profit for this year will reach 420 billion KRW and 78.5 billion KRW, respectively, representing increases of 42% and 73% compared to the previous year."