April 19, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Cafe 24, Korea’s leading e-commerce platform operator, saw its share price soar on its first day of trading on the secondary KOSDAQ market on Feb. 8.

Shares began trading at 84,500 won (US$77.74), 45 percent higher than its initial public offering price of 57,000 won 

Cafe24 CEO and co-founder Lee Jae-suk (center) poses with company and Korea Exchange officials.

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Cafe24 has become the first venture firm to be listed in Korea under the so-called “Tesla standards,” which allows listing of promising companies that have not yet posted significant profits.

Founded in 1999, Cafe24 recorded 101.5 billion won in revenue and an operating loss of 2.5 billion won in 2016. But it was in the black in the first half of 2017, with net profit of 1.6 billion won.

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)