"Stop the Stock Price Drop" Lotte Shopping, CEO Kang Hee-tae and Others Buy Company Shares

Kang Hee-tae, CEO of Lotte Group Integrated Corporation

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Lotte Shopping executives, including Kang Hee-tae, CEO of the integrated corporation, have joined the wave of stock price support through the purchase of company shares.

On the 26th, Lotte Shopping announced through a disclosure that Kang Hee-tae, CEO of Lotte Shopping and head of Lotte Group's Distribution BU, purchased 140 common shares on the market on the 24th. The shares were bought in four transactions at prices ranging from 62,000 to 62,300 KRW per share. The total amount is approximately 8.7 million KRW. As a result, the total shares held increased to 364.

Jang Ho-joo, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Shopping HQ, also purchased 66 common shares at 61,000 KRW per share, bringing his total holdings to 155 shares. Hwang Beom-seok, Executive Director in charge of the department store business, newly acquired 100 common shares at 59,800 KRW per share.

The executives' purchase of company shares was influenced by the sluggish stock price due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Lotte Shopping's stock price halved from 135,500 KRW at the beginning of the year to 57,800 KRW on the 23rd, based on closing prices. This was due to increased concerns over the overall performance of distribution sectors such as department stores and marts.

Typically, share buybacks are interpreted as part of responsible management efforts and are seen as a positive signal in the stock market. In fact, the stock price rose about 6.3% to 62,000 KRW on the 24th, when the buyback occurred, compared to 58,300 KRW on the 23rd. On the 25th, it recovered to the 70,000 KRW level and as of 2:14 PM on that day, it was recorded at 73,100 KRW during trading hours.

Lotte Group's share buyback trend started with the holding company and is expanding. On the 20th, Shin Dong-bin, Chairman of Lotte Group, purchased 47,400 common shares of Lotte Holdings at 21,052 KRW per share, totaling about 1.014 billion KRW. Twenty-nine executives of Lotte Holdings, including Vice Chairman Hwang Gak-gyu, also participated in the share buyback.

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