[Featured Stock] Lotte Chemical Surges Over 7% on Expectations of Return to Profitability

Yuanta Securities Forecasts Operating Profit of 221.2 Billion KRW This Year

Lotte Chemical is showing strong performance in the early trading session on the 5th. This is interpreted as a buying spree driven by expectations that the company could return to profitability for the first time in four years this year.

As of 9:44 AM on the day, Lotte Chemical's stock is trading at 65,600 KRW, up 7.54% compared to the previous trading day.

On this day, securities firms forecasted that Lotte Chemical could record an operating profit this year. Yuanta Securities estimated Lotte Chemical's sales for this year to be 19.4 trillion KRW, a 4.93% decrease from the previous year. Operating profit is expected to turn positive at 221.2 billion KRW, compared to an operating loss of 894.8 billion KRW last year.

Hwang Kyu-won, a researcher at Yuanta Securities, explained, "As the global supply and demand for ethylene improves, expectations for benefits from falling oil prices due to the end of the Ukraine war are increasing, and the deficit is expected to significantly decrease starting from the first quarter of this year."