[Special Stock] KCC Surges Over 7% on Hopes for Corporate Value Enhancement

KCC showed strong performance in early trading on July 14. This appears to reflect expectations for an increase in corporate value following the revision of the Commercial Act.

As of 9:25 a.m. on this day, KCC shares on the Korea Exchange were trading at 385,000 won, up 7.84% from the previous trading day. The stock opened at 371,000 won and continued to widen its gains.

On July 3, immediately after the passage of the Commercial Act amendment, KCC announced its plans to enhance corporate value. The core of the plan is to raise its price-to-book ratio (PBR) to at least 1 by 2030, achieve 10 trillion won in sales, reach an operating margin of 10%, and maintain an interest coverage ratio of at least 2. Along with this, the company also announced plans to issue exchangeable bonds (EB) based on its holdings in HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering.

Yoon Jaesung, a researcher at Hana Securities, commented, "In this process, the value of the investment securities already held by the company is bound to come into the spotlight." He added, "Given the government's push for value enhancement of low-PBR stocks, the company's commitment in line with this, and the strengthened fiduciary duty of directors under the amended Commercial Act, it is important to pay attention to the value of the company's equity holdings." Taking into account the value of these holdings and the recent stock price increase, he raised the target price from 350,000 won to 440,000 won.