It has been a year since Theborn Korea, led by Paik Jong-won, debuted on the KOSPI market, but the share price is still below the offering price. The size of the transaction amount has also shrunk to one-tenth in a year. Individual investors facing paper losses are waiting for Paik's return to broadcasting as a potential catalyst for a rebound.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX) on the 7th, Theborn Korea shares closed at 24,450 won the previous day, down 0.81% (200 won). Theborn Korea's share price has fallen more than 20% this year. The gap is wide compared with the KOSPI index's gain of 68% over the same period. It ranks 58th out of 65 stocks in the KOSPI distribution index to which Theborn Korea belongs. It has not recovered the 34,000 won offering price since Dec. last year.
The average daily transaction amount was about 5.5 billion won from the listing in Nov. last year through Dec., but decreased to 3.5 billion won in the first quarter (January–March) this year, 1.5 billion won in the second quarter (April–June), and 800 million won in the third quarter (July–September). From Oct. through this month, it has dwindled to 500 million won.
Only individuals remain as the dominant supply-and-demand force. From the start of the year through the previous day, while individuals made a net purchase of 22.4 billion won of Theborn Korea shares, institutions and foreigners showed net selling of 21.5 billion won and 1.8 billion won, respectively.
Individuals' buying is close to "averaging down (lowering the average purchase price)." The average purchase price of 5,632 Theborn Korea shareholder-investors linked to Naver Pay's "My asset" service is 36,130 won, marking a current paper loss rate of 32.3%.
Theborn Korea entered the KOSPI market on Nov. 6 last year. The share price shot up intraday to 64,500 won, signaling a successful debut, but it then trended downward. With domestic demand sluggish, a series of controversies, including violations of the Food Sanitation Act surrounding Theborn Korea, had a significant impact. The company's results also deteriorated in the first half of this year as Theborn Korea injected 30 billion won in a mutual-growth support fund to boost franchisee sales.
In particular, the general assessment is that Paik's suspension of broadcasting activities since May had a negative impact on the share price. An executive at an asset management company said, "From the time Theborn Korea entered the stock market, Paik's popularity was both a strength and a weakness," and added, "As Paik halted broadcasting activities due to controversies, the market's interest faded more quickly."
Theborn Korea plans to pursue mergers and acquisitions (M&A) with about 96.9 billion won raised during the initial public offering (IPO) process, but the scheduled period runs through 2027. That means it is hard to expect an event that would immediately lift the share price.
Investors are pinning hopes on Paik's return to broadcasting. MBC's "Chef of the Antarctic," featuring Paik, is set to air its first episode this month. In addition, the Netflix variety show "Culinary Class Wars 2" is scheduled to be released next month.