IBK Securities noted on the 23rd that repeated safety incidents have damaged the corporate image of SPC Samlip and have weakened investor sentiment. They downgraded their investment opinion from "buy" to "trading buy" and reduced the target price from 74,000 won to 59,000 won, a decrease of 20.3%. The closing price of SPC Samlip on the previous trading day was 52,900 won.
Kim Tae-hyun, a researcher at IBK Securities, forecasted, "In addition to the poor performance in the first quarter (January-March) of this year, the recent fatal worker accidents and the resulting production disruptions will negatively impact stock prices and performance for the time being."
According to IBK Securities, after the fatal accidents in 2022 and 2023, the stock price returns over 3 months were recorded at -9.5% and -7.8%, respectively. The 6-month stock price returns were also poor at -6.7% and -13.1%. During this period, net selling by institutions and foreigners continued.
Kim noted, "The risk of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) becoming a discount factor for corporate value is concerning in the medium to long term," adding that "recently, domestic institutional investors have shown a strengthened tendency to emphasize not only short-term performance but also sustainability and ethical management as non-financial factors."
He continued, "Global asset management firms are also making ESG assessments a key investment criterion," forecasting that it would take considerable time to restore investor confidence due to the repeated serious accidents.
SPC Samlip recorded a consolidated revenue of 814.8 billion won and an operating profit of 16.1 billion won in the first quarter of this year. Both figures are 1.9% and 7.2% lower compared to the same period last year, falling below the market average forecast (operating profit of 19.6 billion won).