[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Sangjin] FSN announced on the 11th that the value of its major subsidiaries' equity is approximately 220 billion KRW, and the company will work towards a reassessment of its corporate value in light of external factors that have led to a decline.
Recently, domestic stock markets have been significantly affected by political and social factors. After the pandemic began in April 2020, the KOSDAQ index fell to the 620-point level for the first time in 4 years and 7 months. In the three days following the night of December 3rd, the market capitalization of publicly listed companies in South Korea dropped by over 144 trillion KRW. As a result, FSN's market capitalization had shrunk to just 52 billion KRW as of December 9th.
As of the close on the 10th, FSN's price-to-book ratio (PBR) stood at 0.76. A PBR below 1 is typically considered to indicate that a company's stock is undervalued relative to its assets. FSN's total assets, according to its third-quarter consolidated financial statements, are approximately 342.8 billion KRW, with liquid assets, including cash, totaling 188.7 billion KRW.
FSN believes that, given the value of its major subsidiaries' stakes, its current corporate value has significant room for reassessment. The equity value of Hyper Corporation, which operates in the bio-healthcare-tech sector, is estimated to be around 40 billion KRW, while its core advertising marketing subsidiary, Adqua Interactive, has an estimated value exceeding 80 billion KRW. Additionally, Boosters, which leads the brand cooperation business, received a Series A investment of 16 billion KRW in 2022 and is currently seeking further investment. After this investment, Boosters' corporate value is expected to exceed 100 billion KRW, pushing the total value of FSN's subsidiary stakes above 200 billion KRW.
Moreover, despite a general advertising industry downturn since last year, FSN continues to show growth. Its advertising and marketing division, which includes subsidiaries like Adqua Interactive, reported revenues of 56.1 billion KRW and operating profits of 3.5 billion KRW from Q1 to Q3 this year.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim SangJin(letyou@alphabiz.co.kr)
