[Click eStock] "Hana Tour, Weak Q1 Earnings"

On the 4th, Hana Securities predicted that although Hana Tour's first-quarter performance was sluggish due to numerous negative factors in the travel industry, it would recover in the second quarter. The investment opinion 'BUY' was maintained, but the target price was lowered from the previous 72,000 KRW to 68,000 KRW.

Typically, the travel industry experiences three golden holidays in January, May, and October. With the added effect of China's visa-free policy, the travel industry expected record-high performance. However, travel demand declined due to overlapping negative factors such as political issues including martial law, the Muan Jeju Air accident, and measles and strong earthquakes in Southeast Asia.

Hana Securities estimated Hana Tour's first-quarter sales and operating profit at 165.2 billion KRW and 12.5 billion KRW, respectively, representing decreases of 10% and 42% compared to the same period last year. The operating profit is expected to fall significantly short of the securities industry's consensus of 19.3 billion KRW. However, with high growth rates in travel to China since March, the second quarter is expected to return to positive growth. The annual expected operating profit was lowered by about 15% to 64.9 billion KRW.

Analyst Lee Ki-hoon stated, "With the golden holidays in May and October remaining, performance is expected to gradually recover," adding, "Since the stock price has already priced in various concerns, it is expected that a period of adjustment will continue rather than further decline."