[Click eStock] "Emart, a Beneficiary of Discount Store Industry Restructuring"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Kiwoom Securities analyzed on the 15th that Emart is expected to benefit indirectly from the store restructuring of major discount store competitors. They also highlighted the growth potential and scalability of SSG.com, maintaining a 'Buy' investment rating and a target price of 190,000 KRW.

According to Kiwoom Securities, Lotte Mart plans to close 16 stores this year and restructure 50 stores over the next 3 to 5 years. Homeplus is also considering selling 4 stores currently. In contrast, the number of Emart stores remains largely unchanged, so Emart stores adjacent to competitors' closed stores are expected to benefit indirectly, with an estimated sales growth of around 10% and promotional cost savings at those stores.

They also noted that the e-commerce market share continues to rise amid overall corporate performance improvement. In particular, SSG.com is expected to stand out for its transaction growth and business expansion as an e-commerce platform.

Researcher Park Sang-jun analyzed, "In the past, when SSG.com attracted financial investors, it was valued at about 1x its transaction volume, but currently, Coupang's corporate value is being discussed at up to 1.3x its transaction volume."

He also mentioned that Walmart's price-to-earnings ratio (PER) has risen due to attention on e-commerce growth, and considering the value of SSG.com as an e-commerce platform, Emart's PER increase is quite possible during the performance improvement phase.

Researcher Park said, "Considering the valuation levels of major global platform operators and Walmart's PER increase over the past five years (from 14x to 26x), Emart's valuation rerating is highly likely."

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