[Click eStock] "HanaTour, Sharp Decline in First Half Earnings Expected... Target Price Cut by 26%"

Ebest Investment & Securities Sets Target Price at 52,000 Won... Closing Price on 16th at 39,100 Won

[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Boryeong] Hana Tour is expected to face a difficult period in the first half of this year as well.

According to Ebest Investment & Securities on the 17th, Hana Tour's first-quarter performance this year is estimated at sales of 135.2 billion KRW and an operating loss of 16.9 billion KRW. Compared to the previous year, sales decreased by 39.3%, and operating profit turned into a loss.

Hyunyong Kim, a researcher at Ebest Investment & Securities, stated, "Even without conservative assumptions, it is clear that the travel industry will see a sharp decline in performance until the end of June. Reservation rates from March to April have decreased by more than 95% compared to the same months last year. From March, duty-free shops have seen customer numbers drop to almost zero, leading to an expanded deficit." He added, "Following a large-scale loss of over 10 billion KRW in the first quarter, it is inevitable that losses will continue into the second quarter. Furthermore, if the Tokyo Olympics are canceled, even conservatively, poor performance is expected to continue through the third quarter. Fundamentally, it is clear that the industry conditions will make it difficult to approach buying even in the second half of the year."

There is a possibility of a big bath and business structure simplification in the first half of the year. Researcher Kim said, "In any case, in a sluggish industry, there is a high likelihood of a big bath to clear all potential bad debts, including the cleanup of non-core failing businesses such as duty-free shops, leading to business structure simplification. In this case, it would be a signal to buy Hana Tour."

Ebest Investment & Securities has lowered the target price for Hana Tour by 26% from the previous level to 52,000 KRW. The closing price on the 16th was 39,100 KRW.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.