[Click eStock] "Dong-A Socio Holdings, Focus on Growth Potential of Unlisted Subsidiary"

Sangsangin Securities forecasted that the growth of Dong-A Socio Holdings' major unlisted subsidiaries will expand further this year. The investment opinion of "Buy" and the target stock price of 150,000 KRW were maintained.

Researcher Ha Taegi of Sangsangin Securities stated, "Dong-A Socio Holdings' operating profit in the fourth quarter of last year recorded 21.7 billion KRW, a 35.7% increase compared to the same period last year," adding, "This was due to the significant growth in the performance of unlisted subsidiaries Dong-A Pharmaceutical and Yongma Logistics."

Researcher Ha expects the growth of major unlisted subsidiaries such as Dong-A Pharmaceutical, STGen Bio, and Yongma Logistics to accelerate further.

He said, "Dong-A Pharmaceutical is growing steadily in the Bacchus, over-the-counter drugs, and daily health sectors," and predicted, "This year, the topical skin treatment and cosmetics sectors will experience high growth."

He continued, "STGen Bio's Imuldosa is being sequentially launched in European countries, and in the U.S., it is scheduled to be launched in May this year following a patent agreement with the original company, which will significantly increase commercial volume this year," adding, "Yongma Logistics is also experiencing substantial growth in operating profit due to logistics price adjustments and operational efficiency improvements."

Researcher Ha believes that Dong-A Socio Holdings' stock price is highly likely to rise this year. He explained, "Generally, holding companies in the domestic stock market are discounted as unattractive stocks because they hold many listed subsidiaries, leading to a double counting of market capitalization."

He added, "The difference with Dong-A Socio Holdings is that it has many significant unlisted subsidiaries," and forecasted, "Recently, the corporate value of unlisted subsidiaries has grown significantly, and this year, reflecting this, the stock price level could rise to the next stage."