[Click eStock] "SPC Samlip, Baking Sales Soar on KBO Bread Popularity"

Hana Securities forecasted that SPC Samlip's bakery division sales will achieve double-digit growth this year, driven by the popularity of 'KBObbang'. The investment opinion was maintained as 'Buy', with a target price of 80,000 KRW.

'KBObbang' is a product that embodies the characteristics of the nine professional baseball teams, excluding the Lotte Giants, in bread form. Inside the KBObbang packaging, there is a 'Ttibuseal (removable sticker)' featuring photos of representative players and mascots from each of the nine teams. Despite Lotte Group, which owns SPC Samlip's competitor (Lotte Wellfood), not participating in the lineup, KBObbang recorded sales of 1 million packs within just three days of its launch.

SPC Samlip's consolidated sales and operating profit for the first quarter are expected to be 921.5 billion KRW (+10.9% year-on-year) and 20 billion KRW (+15.7%), respectively, meeting market expectations. Eunju Shim, a researcher at Hana Securities, noted, "Bakery sales are expected to increase by 7% year-on-year due to strong KBObbang sales and price increases for some products," adding, "We believe the sales growth rate will accelerate from the second quarter, reflecting the momentum of KBObbang sales."

However, food sales are expected to decline by around 2% year-on-year. Researcher Shim explained, "Demand for processed meat appears somewhat sluggish due to weak domestic consumption," but added, "Profitability is estimated to improve slightly year-on-year thanks to internal efficiency efforts." Sales at rest areas and brand stores are expected to maintain last year's levels. Researcher Shim said, "As the deficit at Gapyeong Rest Area decreases, the overall company deficit is also expected to improve slightly."