[Click eStock] "HiteJinro, Better Than Industry Conditions"

On the 26th, IBK Investment & Securities anticipated that although the alcoholic beverage market continues to face a downturn, HiteJinro's first-quarter performance is expected to meet market expectations. The investment opinion of 'Buy' and the target price of 25,000 KRW were maintained.

IBK Investment & Securities projected that HiteJinro's consolidated financial statements for the first quarter would show sales and operating profit of 617.4 billion KRW and 50.6 billion KRW, respectively, generally in line with market expectations (631.8 billion KRW and 51.3 billion KRW). According to IBK's estimates, sales represent a 0.6% decrease compared to the same period last year, while operating profit increased by 4.7%.

By segment, beer is expected to underperform due to the push-out effect caused by competitors' logistics strikes and price increases. Analyst Kim Taehyun stated, "Given that competitors have decided to raise beer prices and considering the recent price increase trends in the alcoholic beverage industry, it seems highly likely that HiteJinro will also proceed with price hikes."

In the case of soju, although market growth potential is limited, a slight performance improvement is expected due to market share gains. In line with the recent increase in demand for premium distilled soju, HiteJinro is expanding its IlpoomJinro lineup. He added, "The proportion of distilled liquor in soju sales is still minimal at around 1%, but by strengthening product competitiveness, it is expected to narrow the gap with the leading company."

Despite the overall low growth expectations due to the sluggish alcoholic beverage market, operating margin is expected to be maintained at last year's level through cost reductions. Even though advertising expenses were cut by 22% last year, it did not lead to a decline in market share.

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