April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] SK Holding’s corporate value will be boosted by the growth of its pharmaceutical and bio businesses, said Korea Investment and Securities on Jan. 17, maintaining a “buy” recommendation and raising the target price to 396,000 won (US$371.97) from 358,000 won.

It will concentrate on five new sectors -- pharmaceutical and bio, LNG, semiconductor materials, semiconductor modules and ICT -- and pharmaceutical and bio in particular have great potential, said analyst Yang Jong-in.

SK Biotek has doubled its capacity and will further expand in 2020, and novel drug developer SK Biopharm is planning to seek sales approval for epilepsy therapy which will complete clinical trials this year, according to the analyst. 

Semiconductor materials and modules will also serve as its growth momentum, having acquired SK Materials in 2015 and SK Siltron in 2017 to create synergy effects among affiliates, he added.

SK’s earnings from the fourth quarter last year satisfied market consensus, with 24.64 trillion won revenue and 1.59 trillion won operating profit, up 13.3 percent and 27.6 percent on-year, respectively, estimated Yang.

By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)