[Click eStock] "Lotte Shopping, Crisis Rumors Are Exaggerated Regardless of Performance"

Shinyoung Securities evaluated on the 21st that it is unreasonable for Lotte Shopping to mention crisis rumors regardless of the business conditions and performance of its affiliates. Accordingly, it maintained a 'Buy' investment rating and a target price of 85,000 KRW.

Researcher Seo Jeong-yeon of Shinyoung Securities explained, "Lotte Shopping's operating cash flow and EBITDA reach around 1.3 trillion to 1.6 trillion KRW annually, and its performance has been recovering healthily since COVID-19."

He added, "Although uncertainty in major businesses such as department stores and marts continues, operating profit has turned around through efficiency improvements over the past few years, leading to an improvement in financial soundness." However, since Lotte Shopping's debt ratio is about 190% and its current ratio is around 60%, continuous improvement of the financial structure is still necessary.

Researcher Seo emphasized, "Above all, among Lotte Group stocks, Lotte Holdings and Lotte Shopping are companies where the largest shareholders hold more than 10% of voting shares, so they are relatively not free from issues related to affiliate fund support."

He continued, "Considering the company's financial soundness recovery trend, performance turnaround, and the company's strategy and will, the recent stock price decline due to rumors acts as a short-term buying opportunity."