[Click eStock] "KCC, Forecasted Record High Profit This Year... Absolutely Undervalued"

Hana Securities evaluated on the 5th that while KCC's silicon business performance continues to improve, its stock price is absolutely undervalued compared to global competitors.

KCC Painting Robot 'SMART CANVAS' [Photo by KCC]

KCC achieved an operating profit of 125.3 billion KRW in the third quarter of this year, a 43% improvement compared to the same period last year. Among the business divisions, the silicon business showed particularly significant improvement in operating profit. The silicon division's operating profit was 25.3 billion KRW, a 38% increase compared to the previous quarter. Considering that the overall operating profit decreased by 11% during the same period, the profit improvement in the silicon business is quite substantial.

Yoon Jae-sung, an analyst at Hana Securities, stated, "The profit margin improvement trend of silicon for automobiles, healthcare, and consumer goods continued," and added, "Despite sluggishness in the paint and building materials businesses, profitability improved thanks to the silicon business." He further projected, "If the expected operating profit of 126.9 billion KRW is achieved in the fourth quarter, the annual operating profit for this year will reach about 500 billion KRW, marking an all-time high."

He analyzed, "Global silicon companies such as Ilkem (Elkem) and Wacker are mostly showing steep performance improvement trends," and noted, "Currently, KCC's price-to-book ratio (PBR) is at about 0.37 times, indicating an absolute undervaluation."