Photo = Yonhap News
Kakao Bank, Krafton, and Viva Republica are called the’three stocks’ in the over-the-counter market. Recently, the market capitalization of the three companies exceeded 60 trillion won. Kakao Bank’s market cap is 33 trillion won, which is larger than KB Financial Group (22 trillion won) and Woori Financial Group (7 trillion won) combined. Krafton also surpassed NCsoft with a market cap of over 20 trillion won.
The super boom of public offering stocks boosted the prices of these stocks. All three companies are pursuing listing. However, voices are also raising questions about whether the stock prices of these companies are appropriate.
○Krafton surged 6 times in 1 year
According to the unlisted Securities Plus on the 28th, Krafton recently traded at 2.4 million won per share. It started at the 400,000 won level at the beginning of last year and soared almost six times. The market cap exceeded NCsoft’s (19,714.7 billion won) at 20,5374 billion won.
Kakao Bank recently posted a bid price of 97,000 won. Based on the quoted price, it increased by nearly 30% compared to the beginning of the year (about 75,000 won). Based on the actual transaction price, the market cap is 33,19.9 billion won, and the ask price is 39,5423 billion won. It is larger than KB Finance (22.11 trillion won), which is the number one bank in the market cap.
Viva Republica, which operates Toss Securities, also has a market cap of 8,403.5 billion won. Mirae Asset Daewoo, the largest securities company in Korea, is worth 6,144.3 billion won. Also, the stock price of Yanolja, a reservation platform for accommodation, rose 6-7 times this year alone. The market cap is 6.51 trillion won.
○ The price reflecting the ‘extra-sang’?
The reason why the stock price of OTC stocks soared was due to the public offering stock fever. SK Biopharm, Kakao Games, and Big Hit Entertainment, which were the biggest public offering stocks last year, rose 3 to 4 times compared to the public offering price. As the recognition that popular public offering stocks skyrocketed, OTC stocks were scarce.
Kakao Games, which was listed in September last year, had an offering price of 24,000 won, but the over-the-counter price rose to the 60,000-70,000 won mark. The public offering price for Big Hit Entertainment was 135,000 won, but it was traded at 300,000 to 400,000 won over the counter. Most of the over-the-counter investors also made profits. This is because these stocks recorded a’tasangsang’ immediately after listing (the upper limit for two days in a row after the price was doubled by the offering price).
Experts analyze that the corporate value of the three over-the-counter heads, including Kakao Bank, also reflected the ‘tasangsang’. In the securities industry, Kakao Bank’s public offering price is expected to be around 30,000 won. It is the price that over-the-counter investors go to the main battle if they record at least a’pause’ (the upper limit price after double the offering price).
An official in the management industry said, “The offering price is at a level of 20-30% discount to the corporate value, but it is inevitable that the main battle is overheated when the offering price is at least three times higher than the offering price.”
○’Tragedy’ brought about by the learning effect
However, the atmosphere has changed recently. This was the case with SK Bioscience, which was listed on the 18th. The public offering price for SK Bioscience was 65,000 won, and the over-the-counter price was 180,000 to 200,000 won. However, on the first day, it rose 160% (perhaps) and then turned to a downtrend. It closed at 132,000 won on the 26th. It is 35% lower than the over-the-counter price.
It was a learning effect. It is explained that investors have hurried to realize profits, seeing that public offering stocks surged right after listing, but eventually fell. SK Biopharmaceuticals rose to 260,500 won at one time during the day, but is currently trading at 104,000 won. Kakao Games rose to 89,100 won, but the current share price is 51,900 won.
The market atmosphere also had an impact. Recently, the KOSPI index is moving sideways at the 3000 line. It is different from last year, when the stock price soared. If the market turns to weak in the future, there are concerns that over-the-counter investors may lose money as the public offering stocks cool down.
The perception of public offering prices as’cheap prices’ is also a factor of concern. An official in the securities industry said, “There are many investors who compare the offering price with the over-the-counter price and think that the offering price is cheap.”
Reporter Park Uimyung [email protected]