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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] SEOUL, June 16 (Yonhap) — ContentreeJoongAng received a series of “buy” recommendations from local brokerages over the past month, even as the company later filed for court-led rehabilitation, Yonhap News Agency reported Monday.
According to data compiled by Yonhap Infomax, IBK Investment & Securities, Meritz Securities and Daishin Securities issued research reports on the company since early May, all maintaining “buy” ratings.
In a May 22 report, IBK Investment & Securities said that although ContentreeJoongAng posted an operating loss of 1.6 billion won ($1.2 million) in the first quarter, its full-year operating profit is expected to surge 220% year-on-year to 36.8 billion won, driven by increased production at its subsidiary SLL. The brokerage maintained its “buy” rating and target price of 13,000 won.
However, it added that while earnings are expected to gradually improve, the company’s weakened financial structure could weigh on its share price, underscoring the need to monitor balance sheet recovery.
Meritz Securities also maintained a “buy” rating in a May 15 report, although it lowered its target price from 15,000 won to 12,500 won. Likewise, Daishin Securities, in a May 8 report, kept its “buy” recommendation while cutting its target price from 13,000 won to 10,000 won.
The optimistic outlooks came shortly before a liquidity crisis emerged within the broader JoongAng Group. On June 12, JTBC declared a default after failing to repay 20.6 billion won in asset-backed borrowings.
Two days later, on June 14, the group’s holding company JoongAng Holdings, along with ContentreeJoongAng, JoongAng P&I and Megabox JoongAng, filed for court-led rehabilitation. JTBC also filed for rehabilitation the same day.
Among the five entities, ContentreeJoongAng — the only listed company — had its shares suspended from trading starting that day.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
