World's Largest Asset Manager BlackRock "Holds 5.18% Stake in Kakao"

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] BlackRock, the world's largest asset management company, has revealed that it holds more than a 5% stake in Kakao.

On the 19th, BlackRock Fund Advisors, a subsidiary of BlackRock, disclosed through a mandatory disclosure for holdings exceeding 5% that it has purchased and currently holds 4,596,963 shares of Kakao stock (5.18%) on the open market for simple investment purposes. Until the 10th, BlackRock held less than 5% (4.96%) of Kakao shares, but with additional purchases, it became subject to mandatory disclosure.

On the same day, Kakao recorded a 0.6% increase from the previous day, closing at 504,000 KRW. The securities industry expects Kakao's growth momentum to continue. Last year, Kakao achieved 35% revenue growth and over 120% increase in operating profit, and this year, revenue growth is expected to continue based on advertising and commerce.

Choi Gwansoon, a researcher at SK Securities, stated, “Kakao's revenue growth rate is expected to be 32.4% this year, continuing last year's high growth trend. Operating profit margin is also expected to increase from 6.7% to 11% due to profit improvement from Kakao Japan and Mobility's revenue growth and the growth of the Talk Biz division, which has high profit leverage.”

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