[Click eStock] “Handok Clean Tech to Continue Strong Q1 Performance Despite COVID-19”

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] Hana Financial Investment analyzed that Handok Cleantec will continue to show strong performance in the first quarter of this year despite the COVID-19 pandemic. This is because the company holds a dominant filter market share in the water purifier market, and with the expansion of rental services, the frequency of water purifier filter replacements is increasing, leading to continuous growth in related sales.

On the 22nd, Kim Doohyun, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, estimated in a report that Handok Cleantec's sales in the first quarter of this year will reach 13 billion KRW, a 20.0% increase compared to the same period last year, and operating profit will increase by 28.6% to 1.8 billion KRW. Researcher Kim stated, “Sales growth is expected to be driven by an increase in filter orders due to the rise in rental service accounts for domestic and overseas water purifiers by upstream companies,” adding, “Although there were concerns about a decline in filter orders due to reduced water purifier care service requests caused by COVID-19, the use of non-face-to-face care services (direct delivery of replacement filters to customers) by upstream companies will ensure smooth supply of water purifier filters.”

Accordingly, Handok Cleantec's carbon block filter sales in the first quarter of this year are also expected to continuously increase, reaching 12.1 billion KRW, a 16.0% increase compared to the same period last year. Researcher Kim explained, “From the second half of this year, with the completion of production facility expansion, production volume will increase, and with strengthened promotions by water purifier rental companies, the number of domestic and overseas accounts will rise, accelerating external growth in the third and fourth quarters.”

The total sales for this year are estimated to grow by 28.4% to 62.1 billion KRW compared to last year, and operating profit is expected to increase by 48.3% to 9 billion KRW. Researcher Kim predicted, “Sales growth will be driven by increased filter demand from client companies and the delivery of new AIR filter products,” and added, “Filter orders will also increase in tandem with the rise in rental accounts due to domestic sales expansion by upstream client companies and entry into new overseas markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam.”

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