[Featured Stock] Korea Airports Soars on Expectations of Securing 200 Billion KRW from Idle Asset Sales

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Korea Airport is showing strong performance.

As of 9:53 AM on the 20th, Korea Airport is trading at 36,900 KRW, up 8.53% from the previous trading day.

Research Allem expressed expectations for a stock price increase through a special dividend for Korea Airport, issuing a 'Buy' investment opinion and a target price of 71,000 KRW.

Researcher Jaeyoung Lee of Research Allem explained, "Among the cash-convertible asset lists within the Hanjin Group that can be included in self-help measures, Korea Airport is worth paying attention to."

Korea Airport is an aviation transport support company with a sound financial structure. It shares the domestic market with Asiana Airport and has over 50 airlines as clients, including Korean Air.

As of the end of last year, the company holds cash equivalents worth approximately 100 billion KRW, investment real estate around 17 billion KRW, and financial assets at about 20 billion KRW. Although not directly related to its core business, tangible assets such as the Jeju Folk Village site and limestone mines amount to 80 billion KRW. Researcher Lee analyzed that Korea Airport can secure about 200 billion KRW in cash through the sale of cash and idle assets.

Researcher Lee said, "The largest shareholder, Korean Air, would secure more than 100 billion KRW in cash if Korea Airport redistributes the cash it holds through a special dividend," adding, "In the past, Cheonil Express, which conducted a special dividend due to inheritance tax issues, recorded a 192% stock price increase during the dividend period."

He also added, "There is a high possibility of selling the core business, which generates about 25 billion KRW in annual operating profit," and "Considering the management premium, the estimated sale price is between 250 billion and 300 billion KRW."

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