[Reporter Reading Securities Report] CIMES, the Robot Solution Company Picked by SKT

Intelligent Robot Solution Specialist Company... "Received Over 10 Billion KRW Investment from SKT"
Average PER of Comparable Companies is 45x, Including Many Overseas Firms

CMES, invested in by SK Telecom, has officially begun the initial public offering (IPO) process. The company plans to proceed with large-scale facility investments based on the funds raised. However, since CMES is listing under the special technology growth company system, it is currently operating at a loss. Whether the company meets the projected performance figures presented by itself and the underwriters will be a key factor.

CMES was established in 2014. It provides intelligent robot solutions that combine artificial intelligence (AI) and three-dimensional (3D) vision technology. Through the advancement of its proprietary 3D vision AI robotics core technology, it has supplied intelligent robots to global key companies in logistics, manufacturing, and secondary battery sectors.

The company’s greatest strengths are ▲3D vision sensors, which serve as the robot’s eyes ▲image processing algorithms responsible for the brain ▲and AI technology. Through these, CMES has realized automation of unstructured processes on-site that previously only humans could perform, going beyond simple repetitive processes from system design.

Notably, CMES received investments of 900 million KRW in 2016 and 10 billion KRW in 2022 from SK Telecom. Currently, SK Telecom holds an 8.39% stake, which will decrease to 6.67% after the IPO. These shares have been under a one-year lock-up period.

CMES’s desired IPO price range is 20,000 to 24,000 KRW per share. Comparable companies selected include domestic company Raontech, as well as Japan’s Keyence and Fanuc, and the U.S.’s Cognex. Although Robostar and Samick THK were also considered, they were excluded. This is interpreted as due to their very high price-to-earnings ratios (PER) of 109.4 and 163.5 times, respectively. Despite excluding companies with high PERs, the average PER of the comparables remains high: Raontech at 25.76, Keyence at 40.44, Fanuc at 30.01, and Cognex at 84.26, with an average PER of 45.12 times.

The reason for selecting foreign companies as comparables is that there are no companies operating similar businesses to CMES domestically. The company stated in its securities registration statement, “Compared to CMES, the comparable companies differ in terms of company size, business structure, and other aspects,” but added, “From a global perspective, there is no listed company of similar size that operates the same business as CMES.” It further explained, “As a second-best option, we selected companies with similar target markets and that operate industrial robot or machine vision businesses based on similar technologies as comparables.”

Since the company has yet to generate earnings, future performance forecasts were used to determine the desired IPO price. The underwriters, Samsung Securities and Eugene Investment & Securities, forecast that CMES will record sales of 12.266 billion KRW and an operating loss of 7.594 billion KRW this year. The turnaround to profitability is expected in 2026, with projected sales and operating profit of 42.462 billion KRW and 10.716 billion KRW, respectively. Net income is also expected to reach 10.716 billion KRW.

In particular, CMES is expected to achieve significant growth in 2026. The projected sales for 2026 represent a 93.56% increase compared to the previous year. Operating profit and net income are also expected to turn positive. The company anticipates stable mass sales of intelligent logistics robot solutions starting in 2026.

Based on the projected 2026 net income, the per-share valuation is 28,472 KRW. A discount rate of 15.71% to 29.76% was applied. This is relatively low compared to the average discount rates of 26.24% to 39.72% for newly listed technology growth companies from 2022 to 2024.

CMES plans to offer a total of 2.6 million shares in the IPO. The expected amount to be raised is between 52 billion and 62.4 billion KRW. After deducting issuance costs based on the lower end of the offering price, the net proceeds amount to 44.6 billion KRW. Of this, 17.3 billion KRW will be used to build a second robot center at Cheonan Technopark and purchase machinery and equipment. Another 19.3 billion KRW will be allocated for labor costs and raw material purchases. Additionally, 2.3 billion KRW will be used to repay borrowings, and 5.7 billion KRW will be invested in research and development (R&D).