Chaebol Supremacy
Seven of the ten best performing stocks in the Asian stock market this year were those of Korean companies.
According to Bloomberg, Hanmi Science and Hanmi Pharmaceutical came in first and second, respectively, in the growth rate standings among stocks of the Asia Pacific Index of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) as of Nov. 11. The Asia Pacific Index of the Morgan Stanley Capital International is comprised of stocks of 1,004 companies in 13 major Asian nations such as Korea and Japan. Among them, 107 companies are Korean companies.
The stock prices of Hanmi Science and Hanmi Pharmaceutical soared 961%, 701%, respectively in the same span of this year. Hanmi Science has a 41.37 percent stake in Hanmi Pharmaceutical as its holding company. This is because Hanmi Pharmaceutical has been showing the best performance in the history of the Korean pharmaceutical industry, inking huge export deals this year alone. The deals will earn the company about 6 trillion won (US$5.1 billion). In particular, the stock price of Hanmi Pharmaceutical jumped by about 300,000 won (US$257) this month alone, as the company struck deals to export new drugs and medical technology with global pharmaceutical companies such as Sanofi and Janssen.
Five other Korean companies, including the Korea Aerospace Industries, ranked in the top ten. The Korea Aerospace Industries’ stock price rose to fourth place by recording 118 percent this year. The company exported the first light fighter FA-50 of Korean’s own development and production to the Philippines and Iraq, and enjoyed an increase in aircraft parts sales to Boeing and Airbus. The two factors empowered its third quarter operating income to grow 100.8 percent year-on-year. The fifth ranker was BGF Retail, the stock price of which jumped 116 percent. An increase in single-person households paralleled stronger demand for small-sized instant foods, fueling convenience stores’ sales a great deal.
Cosmetics maker Amore Pacific held seventh place, as its stock price swelled 111 percent. The ninth spot went to Celltrion, the stock price of which was given a boost by the development of an arthritis drug. Furniture specialist Hanssem picked up tenth place with an increase of 94 percent.
Among foreign companies, Japanese cosmetics company Kose seized the third spot with an increase of 150 percent, while China’s Huishan Dairy Holdings Company caught sixth place with an increase of 112 percent. Eighth place landed in the hands of China’s Evergrande Real Estate Group which chalked up a 107 percent increase.