Founded in 1955, Geumyang was the first company to localize saccharin. It is a type of sweetener that has a sweet taste, and the raw material that made headlines when a former Samsung affiliate (Korea Fertilizer) smuggled it into Japan through political funds. The company that manufactured the ingredient that made modern history buzz has since expanded its business into foaming agents (chemicals that produce foam). Its global market share is said to be around 30%. During the time of Bubble.com, it acquired ‘I Love School’ and got involved in a lawsuit. A small local company in Busan with more than 100 employees. Geum Yang is the hottest star in the stock market these days.
Battery man or ant army leader?
This time it’s secondary batteries. In March last year, Geumyang added ‘battery and material development, manufacturing, and sales’ to its business purpose. The company’s rise to prominence as a battery representative can’t be said without mentioning Park Sun-hyuk, the former PR director of Geumyang. As a self-proclaimed K-battery evangelist, he led the investment craze by setting up a day with the Yeouido Stock Exchange. He timed the surge in secondary battery stocks earlier this year and earned the title of guru among retail investors who were distrustful of the stock market.
Park Sun-hyuk, former director of public relations at Keumyang, on KBS YouTube in March (not related to the YouTube broadcast where he mentioned the company’s plans to dispose of its own shares).
The controversy began last month when he appeared on a YouTube broadcast. Park said that the company plans to sell 170 billion won worth of treasury shares, and specifically mentioned block deals (bulk sales after hours) and other methods. The Korea Exchange deemed it a violation of disclosure obligations to disclose plans to dispose of treasury shares through certain media. Geumyang was designated as a non-disclosing entity on Nov. 16, even though the company made the disclosure two weeks later. The day before the designation, Park resigned from the company.
Securing 100 trillion won mines with 80 billion?
Geumyang’s investment in overseas mine development is also being talked about. On the 10th, Geumyang announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to acquire a 60% stake in Mongla, which owns the right to develop the Elstey mine in Mongolia, for $60 million (about KRW 79.3 billion). The company also disclosed the reserves of lithium (360,000 tons) and tungsten (650,000 tons) in the mine on its website, revealing an estimated value of KRW 118 trillion. The day after the announcement, Geumyang’s stock price jumped 22.65% (70,400 won) during intraday trading.
There are also suspicions that the company, which announced in October last year that it had signed an MOU with Geumyang to develop a mine in Congo, Africa, is unclear. Geumyang disclosed that the entity’s capital was at the level of 420,000 won, but when questioned, former director Park said it was a “paper company. The market criticized the lack of specific information about the counterparty and the fact that the MOU disclosure was made without verification. The Korea Exchange said, “There is no regulation on allowing MOU disclosure, so it is difficult to verify the authenticity.”
■ Down nearly 40 percent in just over a month
Geumyang will be included in the KOSPI 200 from the 9th of next month메이저사이트. This means that it will become one of the leading stocks on the Korean stock market with a high trading volume and a high market capitalization. While it is expected to attract capital inflows, it also opens up the possibility of short selling, which is why some say it’s a “bad thing, not a good thing.
That’s why Geumyang closed slightly higher at 54,700 won on the last trading day, April 19. This is a drop of nearly 40 percent in just over a month since it hit a high of nearly 90,000 won per share on April 10.
The ‘battery man’ phenomenon is self-inflicted
Whether it’s a stock price boost or excessive vigilance, Geumyang is unfair. “It seems that the Financial Supervisory Service and others have a misunderstanding that Geumyang’s resource development in Congo and Mongolia is an ‘operation,'” Park Soon-hyuk told KBS, explaining that he resigned to protect the company.
At a time when Yeouido brokerage firms have been criticized for representing only institutional investors’ interests, Park has won the hearts of ants with his simple and brilliant explanations. Perhaps the “Mr. Battery Syndrome” was born out of a thirst for an economic mentor in a frustrating market.
Whether Mr. Park can remain a mentor to the ants will be determined after the financial regulator’s inspection of the secondary battery-themed stocks. The Financial Supervisory Service said 54 listed companies added secondary batteries to their business objectives in the year from March this year, and it plans to check whether their share prices have surged abnormally and whether major shareholders have sold their holdings. “The stock market is overheating abnormally, with credit transactions surging due to a frenzy of investment in new businesses in future industries such as secondary batteries,” said Lee Bok-hyun, head of the Financial Supervisory Service, at an executive meeting at the end of last month, adding, “Promptly launch investigations into stocks with possible unfair trade suspicions.”