[Click eStock] "SK's Proactive Investment in Growth Industries... Increased Expectations for Shareholder Policy"

Excellent from the perspective of ESG management

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] There is an analysis that attention should be paid to SK, which continuously invests one step ahead in structurally growing industries. It is expected that with the introduction of tangible shareholder policies, SK could become the most promising stock within its sector.

On the 23rd, Samsung Securities maintained its 'Buy' rating on SK and raised the target price by about 26% to 420,000 KRW. The closing price the previous day was 275,500 KRW.

Samsung Securities recommended maintaining interest in SK from a long-term perspective. This is because SK proactively invests in structurally growing businesses and shows efforts to share the fruits of these investments with shareholders. Researcher Ilwoo Yang of Samsung Securities explained, "SK Siltron, SK Pharmteco, Roivant, and SK E&S are leading key ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) areas such as environment and society, and will play an important role in increasing SK's net asset value (NAV) upon future listings," adding, "SK, which aims to be an investment holding company, is often mentioned as a role model alongside Berkshire Hathaway, but in terms of ESG management, SK actually has many superior aspects."

Last year, SK's investments and financial performance as a holding company were evaluated as satisfactory. As of the end of 2020, the book value sum of 'unlisted' subsidiaries increased by 553 billion KRW compared to the end of 2019. Meanwhile, net debt decreased by about 630 billion KRW. Considering that SK Biopharm, with a book value of 430 billion KRW, transitioned from an unlisted to a listed company, this is seen as an even more impressive achievement.

Nevertheless, SK's stock price remains trapped in a box range of 270,000 to 300,000 KRW. The stock price at the end of last year was lower than at the end of 2019. This is explained by the difficulty investors have in recognizing investment performance. The high frequency of investments and the large number of subsidiaries, combined with investments made through collective investment vehicles, make it difficult to understand which company is doing what just by looking at disclosure materials.

Researcher Yang predicted, "Shareholder-related policies that firmly link the holding company's market capitalization and NAV will play an important role in boosting the stock price."

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