[Click eStock] "SK Telecom Ahead of Split, Stock Price Rise Justified... Will Continue to Rise Until July"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] Meritz Securities forecasted on the 15th that SK Telecom's stock price, which has been rising ahead of its corporate split, will continue its upward trend until next month.

Jisoo Jung, a researcher at Meritz Securities, stated, "Considering the high dividend yield (4.9%) held by the surviving company and the attractiveness of the semiconductor parts and equipment investment portfolio of the newly established company expected to create synergy with SK Hynix, the recent stock price increase is justified," adding, "The stock price momentum is expected to continue until July, when the subscription-based service and metaverse service, which the market is paying attention to, will be launched."

However, if the initial subscriber numbers and monthly active user (MAU) performance of these services fall short of market expectations, the relative attractiveness of KT, whose connected subsidiaries are undervalued, and LG Uplus, which continues to improve its wireless market performance, is expected to increase.

The corporate split method announced by SK Telecom the previous day involves separating into a surviving company that operates wired and wireless communication businesses and a newly established company aimed at semiconductor and new ICT-related investments. The split ratio was decided to be approximately 6 to 4. According to the schedule, the shareholders' meeting will be held on October 12, and the company will be re-listed on November 29.

The surviving company’s strategy is to apply AI to existing wired and wireless communication services and expand digital infrastructure such as data centers. Until 2025, when the 5G penetration rate reaches 80%, the MNO will act as a key growth driver, and plans to expand dividend capacity through cost structure improvements such as building a 5G shared network. The subscription-based service, scheduled to launch in the third quarter of this year, will be released in two forms: a membership-type subscription package centered on media and commerce, and individual subscription services, targeting 36 million subscribers and a GMV of over 8 trillion won by 2025. The metaverse service, launching next month, is also expected to attract high market interest.

The newly established company will be a semiconductor & ICT investment specialist, planning to build three portfolios: semiconductors, life platforms (Big Tech), and global ICT (Deep Tech). In semiconductors, it will execute complementary investments with SK Hynix’s constraints, and the IPO schedule for life platform companies will proceed sequentially, starting with One Store. The new company plans to invest about 5 trillion won over three years through asset securitization and dividends from subsidiaries, aiming to grow its net asset value from 26 trillion won in 2021 to 75 trillion won by 2025.

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