[Special Stock] Aekyung Industrial Rises on 'Sale Review'

As of 9:30 a.m. on the 2nd, Aekyung Industrial is trading at 15,640 KRW on the KOSPI market, up 7.86% from the previous closing price. This appears to be due to news that the Aekyung Group is considering selling Aekyung Industrial as part of efforts to improve its financial structure.

The total debt of AK Holdings, the holding company of Aekyung Group, exceeded 4 trillion KRW at the end of last year. The debt ratio also reached 328.7%. Accordingly, a report was released on the 1st that Aekyung Group plans to sell about 63% of Aekyung Industrial shares held by AK Holdings and Aekyung Asset Management. However, AK Holdings announced on the 2nd that "Aekyung Group is reviewing various measures to improve the group’s financial structure and reorganize its business portfolio, but nothing has been finalized yet."

Aekyung Group originated from Aekyung Oil Industry, which was established in 1954 producing soap and detergents. Aekyung Industrial was established in April 1985 when the household goods business division was spun off from the group. Its representative brands currently include the household goods brand ‘Kerasys,’ toothpaste ‘2080,’ and cosmetics brand ‘Luna.’

According to Aekyung Industrial’s consolidated financial statements for last year, sales increased by 1.5% year-on-year to 679.1 billion KRW, but operating profit decreased by 23.5% to 47.4 billion KRW.

Meanwhile, Aekyung Group is also pushing forward with the sale of the golf course Jungbu CC located in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. It is expected to focus on Jeju Air and Aekyung Chemical in the future.