The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at jy.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Online retail players to go publicThus far, no pure online retail players have gone public in Korea, as the market is fragmented and the majority of firms are in the red amid heated competition. Tha
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at jy.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Korean online retail market facing chronic low profitabilityThe Korean online retail market is facing a chronic problem of low profitability amid heated competition among a large number of retailers
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at jy.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed. K-online market has been enjoying robust growthIn 1H20, Korea’s online retail penetration stood at 28%, showing the highest level along with China (28%), followed by the UK (26%) and US (16%). While
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at jy.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed. NAVER dominating C2C market; Coupang leading B2C marketIn 2021, we expect online market restructuring centering on Coupang and NAVER to accelerate. The combined M/S of the two e-commerce players in
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at jy.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Fragmented online shopping marketIn our view, the defining characteristic of the Korean online shopping market is fragmentation. In 2019, the Korean online market was crowded with multiple players—t
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at jy.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed. There are many concerns in play over whether, once the Covid-19 crisis passes, there will be a rebound in offline retail activity or the online retail industry upturn will sustain. We believe that,
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. He can be reached at drlee@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Maintain BUY and raise target price to KRW370,000 We maintain BUY and raise our TP by 4.2% to KRW370,000 for Naver in consideration of increasing values of key subsidiaries such as Naver Financial (growing Naver P
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. They can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. NAVER’s 3Q20 results reflect both a reclassification of sales and an accounting change due to the exclusion of subsidiary LINE’s consolidated earnings. We expect the amazing revenue growth bein
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at jy.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed. - GSHS announced consolidated 3Q20 GMV of W1.089tn (+10% y-y) and OP of W37.9bn (91% y-y), exceeding consensus thanks to the prolonged monsoon season, the resurgence of Covid-19 cases, and the late
KT has declared that it will transform itself from a telecommunication company (telco) to a digital platform company (digico).“We will shift our focus from the telecommunications sector, where growth is stalled due to government regulations, to artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and cloud compu
The Korean distribution industry is facing a huge storm approaching. A formidable business alliance has been forged by NAVER, the nation's largest internet portal, and CJ Group, an entertainment and logistics conglomerate. Analysts say that the two companies pose a threat not only to Coupang, th
LG Group has invested in an Israeli artificial intelligence (AI) startup. LG Technology Ventures, a venture capital subsidiary of LG Group, has participated in a US$30 million funding round for Israeli startup SYTE along with other companies, according to foreign media reports on Oct. 22. Each compa
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. They can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Over the past decade, earnings growth has driven up the share prices of major global Internet plays. Noting that Kakao’s earnings growth phase has just begun, we anticipate seeing a robust shar
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. They can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. NAVER’s ad and commerce businesses continue to serve as stable cash cows, while its new fintech and webtoon businesses have started to generate tangible results. The planned merger of LINE and
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. They can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. It only takes a moment of thought regarding the quantities of user time being spent on NAVER and Kakao to conclude that Internet players’ ongoing share price ‘flex’ is here to stay.Internet-ori
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. They can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. - According to media reports, NAVER, CJ Logistics, CJ ENM, and Studio Dragon have decided to exchange treasury shares. The companies explained that they are considering various strategic measur
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at junsup@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Mirae is likely to announce sound 3Q20 earnings. But, with positives already reflected in its valuations, we recommend keeping an eye on how uncertainties surrounding its earnings and litigation affe
CJ Group and NAVER are moving to strengthen their partnership. CJ Logistics and NAVER said on Oct. 14 that they are studying various measures to forge a strategic alliance in content and logistics and promote the growth of their related businesses. They added, however, that nothing has been determin
The author is an analyst of Shinhan Investment Corp. He can be reached at mj1224@shinhan.com. -- Ed. 3Q20 preview: OP improvement on removal of loss from LINENAVER announced in August that the business integration of LINE and Z Holdings has passed antitrust reviews and that LINE’s earnings will be e
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has announced the enactment of a new law for fair intermediate transaction on online platforms.The bill will be applied to every business acting as a product or service transaction intermediary between a consumer and an online platform user. The examples includ