16 Companies Delisted Last Year... Fourfold Increase in One Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] The number of companies delisted from the domestic stock market last year surged to four times the level of 2019.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 4th, the number of companies delisted from the domestic stock market last year (excluding voluntary delisting, absorption mergers, SPACs, etc.) was 16 in total, with 3 companies from KOSPI and 13 companies from KOSDAQ. This is four times the number in 2019 (4 companies).

The sharp increase in the number of delisted companies last year was influenced by a system change in 2019, where companies receiving an adverse audit opinion were not immediately delisted but would be delisted only if they received another adverse audit opinion the following year, which had previously reduced the number of delistings.

In fact, the number of companies delisted due to adverse audit opinions decreased from 13 in 2018 to 1 in 2019, then rose again to 11 last year. Among them, Woongjin Energy and Shinhan were delisted from KOSPI after receiving audit opinion rejections for two consecutive years, and nine companies including PartyGames, Smark, and P&Tel were delisted from KOSDAQ after receiving adverse opinions such as audit opinion rejections due to audit scope limitations.

Three companies?Suntech, Lead, and KosunBio?were delisted after the KOSDAQ Market Committee comprehensively considered the companies' continuity and management transparency and determined that they met the delisting criteria. Additionally, ChinaGreat was delisted for failing to submit its 2019 fiscal year business report within ten days past the legal deadline, and FineNex was also delisted after repeatedly failing to submit business reports and semi-annual reports within the deadlines.

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