Unicem, Financial Structure Improved After Management Change... "Successfully Established Growth Foundation"

On the 1st, Unichem, a leather specialist company that successfully replaced its management team last November, announced that it has succeeded in improving its financial structure and laying the foundation for strengthening its core business in a short period of time.

Unichem successfully completed the management replacement at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders last November, backed by the support of minority shareholders. With the appointment of CEO Jeong Jae-hyung, a professional manager, and the recruitment of industry experts from major client companies, the company focused on improving its financial structure and organizational health.

First, Unichem secured funds by selling its subsidiary Unione’s shares, resolved joint guarantees, and succeeded in drastically improving its financial structure. As a result, the debt ratio, which reached 226% at the end of the third quarter last year, is estimated to have been reduced to the low 50% range by the end of last year. During the same period, the current ratio also improved from 22.2% to over 110%.

Based on the improved financial structure, Unichem also decided to acquire its own shares worth 15 billion KRW in December last year. This move expresses the company’s intention to enhance corporate value damaged during excessive subsidiary support and management disputes, and to strengthen shareholder-friendly policies.

At the same time as improving its financial structure, the company is also focusing on enhancing the competitiveness of its existing core business of manufacturing leather products. In this regard, it recruited Kim Han-joo, former head of planning at Hyundai Transys, as Vice President and head of business strategy. Vice President Kim is one of the top experts in the industry with over 30 years of experience in global automakers and parts manufacturers.

Vice President Kim plans to strengthen customer- and market-centered sales organizations and external collaborations based on his extensive industry network and expertise in business development and execution. Through this, he will focus on strengthening competitiveness in the core business area of manufacturing leather for automobile seats.

A company official said, “Since the appointment of CEO Jeong Jae-hyung, we have successfully completed the change in governance structure and laid the groundwork for a new leap forward,” adding, “We will achieve substantial performance improvements starting this year through various efforts to strengthen business competitiveness.” He also added, “With the large-scale acquisition of treasury shares as a turning point, we will prioritize enhancing shareholder value as our top task.”

Meanwhile, Unichem produces leather materials for handbags, shoes, and natural leather for automobile seats. It has secured clients including luxury fashion brands such as Prada, Burberry, Coach, and Tumi, as well as global automakers like Hyundai, Kia, and Renault. Currently, the company is strengthening partnerships with customers through new designs and product development along with establishing the vision of becoming a ‘Global Eco-friendly Leader.’

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