[Click eStock] Nongshim Surpasses 200 Billion KRW Operating Profit "Target Price Raised"

Hana Securities announced on the 14th that it maintains a buy rating on Nongshim and raises the target price from 440,000 KRW to 540,000 KRW. This is based on the expectation that this year's consolidated operating profit will surpass 200 billion KRW.

Researcher Sim Eun-joo stated, "When Nongshim's consolidated profit exceeded 100 billion KRW in 2015, the stock price surged to 520,000 KRW," adding, "Although the third-quarter results may be somewhat slow, we positively evaluate the overall strengthening of the company's fundamentals and the expansion of overseas profit contribution to 50%, and maintain a buy perspective during any corrections."

In the second quarter, Nongshim achieved consolidated sales and operating profit of 837.5 billion KRW and 53.7 billion KRW, respectively. Total ramen sales increased by 11.1% year-on-year. Snack sales grew by 17.4% during the same period. The monthly sales contribution of the new product 'Meoktaekkang' is estimated at 1.5 billion KRW.

For the third quarter, consolidated sales and operating profit are expected to be 873.2 billion KRW (up 7.4%) and 38.1 billion KRW (up 39.7%), respectively. Researcher Sim noted, "Domestic ramen prices continue to benefit from price increases, but a decline in volume seems inevitable. Snacks are expected to maintain high growth due to strong sales of new products like Meoktaekkang," adding, "In North America, inventory depletion by distributors is expected to continue through the third quarter. Although short-term top-line growth slowdown is unavoidable, margin improvement is expected to continue."

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