[Featured Stock] CJ Freshway Enters Profit Growth Phase... Up 8%

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] CJ Freshway is showing a sharp rise amid expectations that it will enter a full-fledged profit growth phase this year.

At 9:07 a.m. on the 14th, CJ Freshway was trading at 37,300 KRW, up 8.43% from the previous trading day. This increase is analyzed to reflect the stock price incorporating the forecast that the company will continue its performance improvement following strong results in the fourth quarter of last year.

In the fourth quarter of last year, CJ Freshway recorded an operating profit of 17 billion KRW, successfully turning to profitability. Sales amounted to 660.7 billion KRW, a 1% growth compared to the same period last year. Despite reflecting incentives of 5 billion KRW, operating profit significantly improved due to a combination of product price increases, improved profitability in group catering, and cost reduction effects.

The company expects both sales and profits to increase sharply in the first quarter as rising food service prices and demand recovery occur simultaneously. Sangjun Park, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, “Although operating losses were recorded in January and February due to seasonal off-peak periods, achieving profitability in January and February this year will be smooth thanks to cost reductions and strong demand,” adding, “We are raising the 2022 operating profit forecast by about 20%.”

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