Korea / Special Situations, Clepsydra Capital

Sanghyun Park

Korea / Special Situations

Korea / Special Sits, Pairs, Index Rebalancing

Clepsydra Capital

Investigate special situations, pairs, and index rebalancing trades in Korea.

Event-Driven

KMW and HLB are at the top in both short and loan interests among the KOSDAQ stocks (excluding SillaJen).KMW has a 4.83% short interest (as a % of SO), closely followed by HLB at 4.57%.Not much change in their short interest, but KMW had a substantial weekly increase in its loan interest, +18.42% and +2.18%p. Its loan interest now sits at a whopping 18.42% of the SO.













Top 20 short interest
Ticker
K150
Short
1W Δ
1W Δ %p
Loan
1W Δ
1W Δ %p


KMW Co Ltd
032500
126
4.83%
-0.10%
0.00%p
14.02%
18.42%
2.18%p


HLB Inc
028300
82
4.57%
1.26%
0.06%p
10.92%
4.51%
0.47%p


Apam Corp
073070
#N/A
2.41%
0.00%
0.00%p
4.09%
0.00%
0.00%p


Sangsangin Co Ltd
038540
50
2.08%
-4.34%
-0.09%p
4.11%
-0.76%
-0.03%p


Toptec Co Ltd
108230
137
2.07%
-1.95%
-0.04%p
4.05%
0.60%
0.02%p


NatureCell Co Ltd
007390
19
1.96%
4.13%
0.08%p
5.31%
-0.76%
-0.04%p


Kuk Il Paper MFG Co Ltd
078130
17
1.92%
3.92%
0.07%p
6.75%
1.77%
0.12%p


Komipharm International Co., Ltd.
041960
128
1.84%
-1.23%
-0.02%p
4.51%
1.30%
0.06%p


BH Co Ltd
090460
45
1.79%
0.30%
0.01%p
4.90%
0.96%
0.05%p


Power Logics
047310
#N/A
1.75%
-0.12%
0.00%p
2.85%
-7.12%
-0.22%p


Innovation For Creative Devices Co Ltd
040910
#N/A
1.73%
-0.92%
-0.02%p
2.83%
0.57%
0.02%p


Korea Alcohol Industrial
017890
#N/A
1.72%
3.37%
0.06%p
2.99%
0.00%
0.00%p


Cancer Rop Co Ltd
180400
#N/A
1.67%
0.00%
0.00%p
1.98%
-0.12%
0.00%p


Curocom Co., Ltd.
040350
#N/A
1.62%
3.46%
0.05%p
2.84%
0.00%
0.00%p


MS Autotech Co Ltd
123040
#N/A
1.50%
0.12%
0.00%p
2.73%
0.00%
0.00%p


Hyundai Bioscience Co Ltd
048410
148
1.49%
-0.67%
-0.01%p
4.50%
1.37%
0.06%p


ACT Co Ltd (Chungcheongbuk-do)
138360
#N/A
1.48%
0.00%
0.00%p
1.98%
0.00%
0.00%p


Orbitech Co Ltd
046120
#N/A
1.46%
-1.78%
-0.03%p
2.04%
0.39%
0.01%p


STCube Inc
052020
78
1.45%
0.82%
0.01%p
3.62%
1.94%
0.07%p


Chemtronics Co Ltd
089010
#N/A
1.45%
-1.14%
-0.02%p
3.23%
-0.21%
-0.01%p

Source: KRX &amp; KOFIA















Top 20 loan balance
Ticker
K150
Short
1W Δ
1W Δ %p
Loan
1W Δ
1W Δ %p


KMW Co Ltd
032500
126
4.83%
-0.10%
0.00%p
14.02%
18.42%
2.18%p


HLB Inc
028300
82
4.57%
1.26%
0.06%p
10.92%
4.51%
0.47%p


Easy Holdings Co Ltd
035810
113
0.46%
0.58%
0.00%p
8.08%
3.57%
0.28%p


Anterogen Co Ltd
065660
72
0.59%
1.17%
0.01%p
7.44%
-3.19%
-0.25%p


Medipost Co Ltd
078160
42
0.84%
-0.17%
0.00%p
7.36%
1.90%
0.14%p


Intops Co Ltd
049070
#N/A
0.07%
0.00%
0.00%p
7.33%
-28.64%
-2.94%p


Ecopro Co., Ltd.
086520
86
0.74%
-5.99%
-0.05%p
7.04%
1.68%
0.12%p


Kuk Il Paper MFG Co Ltd
078130
17
1.92%
3.92%
0.07%p
6.75%
1.77%
0.12%p


NHN KCP Corp
060250
9
0.09%
23.86%
0.02%p
6.72%
2.53%
0.17%p


Jusung Engineering Co., Ltd.
036930
118
0.42%
-9.99%
-0.05%p
6.52%
2.24%
0.14%p


PearlAbyss Corp
263750
142
0.43%
284.98%
0.32%p
6.52%
394.02%
5.20%p


Seegene Inc
096530
66
0.67%
-2.59%
-0.02%p
6.16%
23.97%
1.19%p


PARTRON Co Ltd
091700
141
1.41%
-26.86%
-0.52%p
6.11%
12.15%
0.66%p


Genic Co Ltd
123330
#N/A
0.33%
0.00%
0.00%p
6.07%
-0.13%
-0.01%p


TSE Co Ltd
131290
#N/A
0.07%
0.00%
0.00%p
5.88%
-11.63%
-0.77%p


MedyTox Inc
086900
41
0.60%
2.17%
0.01%p
5.86%
-0.01%
0.00%p


DAWONSYS CO., LTD
068240
26
0.76%
1.00%
0.01%p
5.86%
-6.62%
-0.41%p


JYP Entertainment Corp
035900
6
0.57%
96.86%
0.28%p
5.84%
-1.89%
-0.11%p


Cafe24 Corp
042000
123
1.21%
10.81%
0.12%p
5.59%
1.83%
0.10%p


L&amp;K Biomed Co Ltd
156100
#N/A
0.05%
53.16%
0.02%p
5.35%
-0.79%
-0.04%p

Source: KRX &amp; KOFIA

In the run-up to the May 3 short-selling resumption, we should probably focus on gainers in loan interest, which often serves as a leading indicator of short-selling.Last week, the biggest gainer was Pearl Abyss, with a 5.2%p increase to 6.52% of the SO. Kyhyoung and KMW follow distantly, with 3.24%p and 2.18%p, respectively.The market seems to be interested in shorting Pearl Abyss on the recent bounce, largely resulting from the stock split event.













Top 20 loan balance gainers
Ticker
K150
Short
1W Δ
1W Δ %p
Loan
1W Δ
1W Δ %p


PearlAbyss Corp
263750
142
0.43%
284.98%
0.32%p
6.52%
394.02%
5.20%p


Kohyoung Technology Inc
098460
15
1.10%
387.22%
0.87%p
4.04%
405.32%
3.24%p


KMW Co Ltd
032500
126
4.83%
-0.10%
0.00%p
14.02%
18.42%
2.18%p


Victek Co., Ltd.
065450
#N/A
0.19%
-73.11%
-0.53%p
2.64%
132.44%
1.51%p


Seegene Inc
096530
66
0.67%
-2.59%
-0.02%p
6.16%
23.97%
1.19%p


Ace Technologies Corp.
088800
81
0.82%
-0.75%
-0.01%p
3.67%
40.14%
1.05%p


HLB Life Science Co Ltd
067630
83
1.32%
-1.60%
-0.02%p
4.62%
23.87%
0.89%p


Bosung Power Technology Co., Ltd.
006910
#N/A
1.05%
-0.11%
0.00%p
2.43%
51.56%
0.83%p


Alteogen Inc
196170
74
0.26%
39.89%
0.07%p
3.20%
34.31%
0.82%p


Helixmith Co Ltd
084990
147
0.78%
-0.71%
-0.01%p
4.89%
15.94%
0.67%p


PARTRON Co Ltd
091700
141
1.41%
-26.86%
-0.52%p
6.11%
12.15%
0.66%p


Deutsch Motors Inc
067990
#N/A
0.89%
2.00%
0.02%p
2.81%
29.96%
0.65%p


Kakao Games Corp
293490
122
0.00%
-100.00%
-0.01%p
4.08%
18.68%
0.64%p


Youngsin Metal Industrial
007530
#N/A
0.00%
#DIV/0!
0.00%p
0.98%
171.75%
0.62%p


Eone Diagnomics Genome Center Co Ltd
245620
#N/A
0.32%
127.91%
0.18%p
1.46%
69.18%
0.60%p


Huons Global Co Ltd
084110
#N/A
0.08%
-10.97%
-0.01%p
1.23%
85.37%
0.57%p


FORMETAL CO., LTD.
119500
#N/A
0.00%
#DIV/0!
0.00%p
2.11%
36.06%
0.56%p


LET Co Ltd
297890
#N/A
0.00%
#DIV/0!
0.00%p
0.52%
#DIV/0!
0.52%p


HLB Inc
028300
82
4.57%
1.26%
0.06%p
10.92%
4.51%
0.47%p


Fantagio Corp
032800
#N/A
0.31%
400.00%
0.25%p
0.58%
307.70%
0.44%p

Source: KRX &amp; KOFIA



KOSDAQ Short/Loan Int: Pearl Abyss on Radar for Recent Bounce & Big Names KOSPI Moving

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

<div class="content-highlight">
<h2>Review of Our M&amp;A Research in 2019</h2>
We wrote 31 reports about the M&amp;As in 2019, representing 11% of our total research production. All of them were related to Korean companies. We typically prefer to write about Korean M&amp;A deals that involve at $500 million in investments. Most of the M&amp;A research that we write about are related to public companies. However, we also wrote about a few private companies including Woowa Brothers, Have &amp; Be, and KCFT that were involved in major M&amp;A deals.
<h2>2020 Korea M&amp;A Market Outlook - What’s For Sale?</h2>
We highlight 30 Korean companies that are/may be seeking to find new owners through M&amp;As in 2020. Key sectors of M&amp;A in Korea in 2020 include financial (insurance in particular), industrial, and consumer. Our analysis is based on the publicly available information.
</div>


Review of Our M&amp;A Research in 2019
We wrote 31 reports about the M&amp;As in 2019, representing 11% of our total research production. All of them were related to Korean companies. We typically prefer to write about Korean M&amp;A deals that involve at $500 million in investments. Most of the M&amp;A research that we write about are related to public companies. However, we also wrote about a few private companies including Woowa Brothers, Have &amp; Be, and KCFT that were involved in major M&amp;A deals.
2020 Korea M&amp;A Market Outlook - What’s For Sale?
We highlight 30 Korean companies that are/may be seeking to find new owners through M&amp;As in 2020. Key sectors of M&amp;A in Korea in 2020 include financial (insurance in particular), industrial, and consumer. Our analysis is based on the publicly available information.


Review of Our M&A Research in 2019 & Korea M&A Market Outlook in 2020: What’s For Sale?

Equity Capital Markets

Segyung Hitech Co Ltd / Equity Capital Markets

We have a positive view on the Segyung Hitech IPO. We are including Segyung Hitech in our model portfolio. Our base case valuation of Segyung Hitech is market cap of 631 billion won or 104,000 won per share. This represents 112% higher than the mid-point of the IPO range of 49,000 won. Our base case valuation uses our estimated net profit of 51 billion won in 2019 and P/E of 12.4x. Among the Korean IPOs, sometimes they trade in private markets prior to the IPO, especially the ones with bigger potential demand. Segyung Hitech shares have recently been trading at 62,000 won levels in private markets, which is 27% higher than the mid-point of the IPO range. If the companies' shares trade at higher levels than their initial IPO indicated range in the private markets ahead of the IPO, this is usually, but not always, a good sign. We estimate the company to generate sales of 380.5 billion won (up 48.3% YoY) and operating profit of 60.1 billion won (up 55.7% YoY) in 2019. The company had strong 1Q19 results, with sales of 102.5 billion won (40% of sales in 2018) and operating profit of 17.9 billion won (46% of operating profit in 2018).

We have a positive view on the Segyung Hitech IPO. We are including Segyung Hitech in our model portfolio. Our base case valuation of Segyung Hitech is market cap of 631 billion won or 104,000 won per share. This represents 112% higher than the mid-point of the IPO range of 49,000 won. Our base case valuation uses our estimated net profit of 51 billion won in 2019 and P/E of 12.4x. Among the Korean IPOs, sometimes they trade in private markets prior to the IPO, especially the ones with bigger potential demand. Segyung Hitech shares have recently been trading at 62,000 won levels in private markets, which is 27% higher than the mid-point of the IPO range. If the companies' shares trade at higher levels than their initial IPO indicated range in the private markets ahead of the IPO, this is usually, but not always, a good sign. We estimate the company to generate sales of 380.5 billion won (up 48.3% YoY) and operating profit of 60.1 billion won (up 55.7% YoY) in 2019. The company had strong 1Q19 results, with sales of 102.5 billion won (40% of sales in 2018) and operating profit of 17.9 billion won (46% of operating profit in 2018). 

YMT Co., Ltd. basically manufactures and supplies chemicals used for the surface treatment of various PCBs (printed circuit board). The company was founded in 1999 and is based in Incheon, South Korea. Founder and current CEO Jeon Seong-wook has a bachelor's degree in Metallurgical Engineering and started his career at Houghton Korea as a surface treatment engineer. He had worked there for about 13 years. Houghton Korea is a JV set by the US based Houghton International &amp; Inc. When he started his career at Houghton, Korea's plating chemical industry lagged far behind such power nations as the US, Germany and Japan. So, with the knowledge and know-how he had obtained from Houghton, he decided to take on a huge challenge to catch up the world's leaders in this field, Germany's Atotech $(<a href="http://www.atotech.com" target="_blank">www.atotech.com</a>), Japan's <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/1197" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1197:1">C Uyemura &amp; Co Ltd (4966 JP)</a> (<a href="http://www.uyemura.com" target="_blank">www.uyemura.com</a>) and Okuno (<a href="http://www.okuno.co.jp" target="_blank">www.okuno.co.jp</a>) also from Japan. This was how his company was started. He founded YMT in 1999. As many businesses in their early phase, YMT had struggled to build a solid business foundation for about 5 years. In particular, this is a chemical processing business, which usually requires many years of initial product development. The company hadn't had many happy moments until 2005. But a huge opportunity finally came to Jeon and his company in 2005 when the Korean regulators banned the use of lead in PCB. Back then, it was not rare to use lead as an adhesive in PCB plating process. YMT didn't waste this opportunity to break into this market.The company developed and introduced a new plating method for PCB, which didn't use any lead. This was called "Silver Electroless-Plating Process". <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/539" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:539:1">Samsung Electro Mechanics Co., Ltd. (009150 KS)</a> was impressed by YMT's new method so it gave YMT a supply contract. YMT also got a supply contract from <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/2212" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2212:1">Daeduck Electronics Co (008060 KS)</a> in the same year. This moment was the beginning of YMT as we know today. YMT finally reached ₩10bil in sales in 2011. But its Silver Electroless-Plating Process method turned out to have several critical shortcomings. As a result, it again had to undergo a difficult time. It soon turned its eye to Gold Electroless-Plating Process, which was technologically more advanced. But Japan's Okuno was dominating this market segment in Korea by then. YMT had a price advantage; however, it wasn't easy to break into this Gold Electroless-Plating Process market segment even in Korea only with cheaper price. So, the company first targeted a niche market in overseas. Its first strategically targeted market was Taiwan. After some time, the company started seeing a fruitful outcome in Taiwan and could gradually attract low-cost Chinese PCB makers as its key clients. During this period, the company developed and launched two key Gold Electroless-Plating Process products: 1. ENIG (Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold) and 2. ENEPIG (Electroless Nickel Electroless Palladium Immersion Gold). ENIG is commonly used in flexible PCB, whose importance is growing very rapidly due to the explosive growth of flexible OLED market.YMT became Korea's first company to successfully develop and launch ENIG. ENEPIG can be considered as an advanced version of ENIG. With ENIG and ENEPIG, the company could again achieve sales growth. The company has the three main chemical products used in various phases of PCB component processing. They are 1. finish plating chemical, 2. copper plating chemical and 3. process chemical. The first one "finish plating chemical" is the one for PCB surface treatment. The above-mentioned ENIG and ENEPIG are the specific products of finish plating chemicals, which account for 65.4% of total sales (on a separate company basis) and 47.4% of total sales on a consolidated basis). Other than this finish plating chemical (for PCB surface treatment), the company also supplies copper plating chemical (9.7% in 2016 on a consolidated basis) to be used for plating nonconducting materials with copper to make them conducting materials and process chemicals (9.3% in 2016) used in cleaning, etching, stripping, developing, recovering, etc. The company began to do surface treatment work by itself. In this regard, the company established a subsidiary called "YPT Co., Ltd." So, YMT develops and supplies chemicals, and its subsidiary YPT does actual surface treatment work. In 2016, YPT's actual PCB surface treatment business accounted for 31.7% of YMT's total consolidated sales.

YMT Co., Ltd. basically manufactures and supplies chemicals used for the surface treatment of various PCBs (printed circuit board). The company was founded in 1999 and is based in Incheon, South Korea. Founder and current CEO Jeon Seong-wook has a bachelor's degree in Metallurgical Engineering and started his career at Houghton Korea as a surface treatment engineer. He had worked there for about 13 years. Houghton Korea is a JV set by the US based Houghton International &amp; Inc. When he started his career at Houghton, Korea's plating chemical industry lagged far behind such power nations as the US, Germany and Japan. So, with the knowledge and know-how he had obtained from Houghton, he decided to take on a huge challenge to catch up the world's leaders in this field, Germany's Atotech $(www.atotech.com), Japan's C Uyemura &amp; Co Ltd (4966 JP) (www.uyemura.com) and Okuno (www.okuno.co.jp) also from Japan. This was how his company was started. He founded YMT in 1999. As many businesses in their early phase, YMT had struggled to build a solid business foundation for about 5 years. In particular, this is a chemical processing business, which usually requires many years of initial product development. The company hadn't had many happy moments until 2005. But a huge opportunity finally came to Jeon and his company in 2005 when the Korean regulators banned the use of lead in PCB. Back then, it was not rare to use lead as an adhesive in PCB plating process. YMT didn't waste this opportunity to break into this market.The company developed and introduced a new plating method for PCB, which didn't use any lead. This was called "Silver Electroless-Plating Process". Samsung Electro Mechanics Co., Ltd. (009150 KS) was impressed by YMT's new method so it gave YMT a supply contract. YMT also got a supply contract from Daeduck Electronics Co (008060 KS) in the same year. This moment was the beginning of YMT as we know today. YMT finally reached ₩10bil in sales in 2011. But its Silver Electroless-Plating Process method turned out to have several critical shortcomings. As a result, it again had to undergo a difficult time. It soon turned its eye to Gold Electroless-Plating Process, which was technologically more advanced. But Japan's Okuno was dominating this market segment in Korea by then. YMT had a price advantage; however, it wasn't easy to break into this Gold Electroless-Plating Process market segment even in Korea only with cheaper price. So, the company first targeted a niche market in overseas. Its first strategically targeted market was Taiwan. After some time, the company started seeing a fruitful outcome in Taiwan and could gradually attract low-cost Chinese PCB makers as its key clients. During this period, the company developed and launched two key Gold Electroless-Plating Process products: 1. ENIG (Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold) and 2. ENEPIG (Electroless Nickel Electroless Palladium Immersion Gold). ENIG is commonly used in flexible PCB, whose importance is growing very rapidly due to the explosive growth of flexible OLED market.YMT became Korea's first company to successfully develop and launch ENIG. ENEPIG can be considered as an advanced version of ENIG. With ENIG and ENEPIG, the company could again achieve sales growth. The company has the three main chemical products used in various phases of PCB component processing. They are 1. finish plating chemical, 2. copper plating chemical and 3. process chemical. The first one "finish plating chemical" is the one for PCB surface treatment. The above-mentioned ENIG and ENEPIG are the specific products of finish plating chemicals, which account for 65.4% of total sales (on a separate company basis) and 47.4% of total sales on a consolidated basis). Other than this finish plating chemical (for PCB surface treatment), the company also supplies copper plating chemical (9.7% in 2016 on a consolidated basis) to be used for plating nonconducting materials with copper to make them conducting materials and process chemicals (9.3% in 2016) used in cleaning, etching, stripping, developing, recovering, etc. The company began to do surface treatment work by itself. In this regard, the company established a subsidiary called "YPT Co., Ltd." So, YMT develops and supplies chemicals, and its subsidiary YPT does actual surface treatment work. In 2016, YPT's actual PCB surface treatment business accounted for 31.7% of YMT's total consolidated sales.

YMT IPO Summary - PCB Plating Chemical Company's Solid Growth Story

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul><li>Samsung Display, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, makes new investments for increasing production of flexible OLED. The main purpose of the increased production of flexible OLED is to supply flexible OLED panels to Apple.</li><li>Unlike LCD and rigid OLED, flexible OLED requires PI. In fact, PI is being used as material for TFT substrate in curved OLED.</li><li>In the future (when foldable OLED becomes commercially available), PI will be used in more parts of flexible OLED. That is, it is now used only for TFT substrate. But in the future, PI will be also used for base film and cover window of flexible OLED.</li><li>Obviously, SKC Kolon PI is the front-runner in terms of meeting high demand potential from Korea's flexible OLED panel makers (Samsung and LG)!!!</li></ul>

Samsung Display, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, makes new investments for increasing production of flexible OLED. The main purpose of the increased production of flexible OLED is to supply flexible OLED panels to Apple.Unlike LCD and rigid OLED, flexible OLED requires PI. In fact, PI is being used as material for TFT substrate in curved OLED.In the future (when foldable OLED becomes commercially available), PI will be used in more parts of flexible OLED. That is, it is now used only for TFT substrate. But in the future, PI will be also used for base film and cover window of flexible OLED.Obviously, SKC Kolon PI is the front-runner in terms of meeting high demand potential from Korea's flexible OLED panel makers (Samsung and LG)!!!

Looking for Undervalued Stock for Flexible OLED Momentum? SKC Kolon PI Is The One

South Korea

PI Advanced Materials Co., Ltd. manufactures and sells plastics films. The Company produces and sells polyimide films and other products. PI Advanced Materials conducts businesses in South Korea.

Price Gauge
52-week Range	0.00 - 0.00
Market Cap (USDm)	0.00
P/E	0.00
Dividend (Yield)	0.00

PI Advanced Materials (178920 KS)

KOSDAQ Short/Loan Int: Pearl Abyss on Radar for Recent Bounce & Big Names KOSPI Moving

This post compiles weekly flow in short/loan interest for KOSDAQ stocks. It looks into Pearl Abyss for a substantial increase in loan interest and...

Sanghyun Park

Review of Our M&A Research in 2019 & Korea M&A Market Outlook in 2020: What’s For Sale?

Review of Our M&A Research in 2019 We wrote 31 reports about the M&As in 2019, representing 11% of our total research production. All of...

Douglas Kim

Segyung Hitech IPO Valuation Analysis

We have a positive view on the Segyung Hitech IPO. We are including Segyung Hitech in our model portfolio. Our base case valuation of Segyung...

Douglas Kim

YMT IPO Summary - PCB Plating Chemical Company's Solid Growth Story

YMT Co., Ltd. basically manufactures and supplies chemicals used for the surface treatment of various PCBs (printed circuit board). The company was...

Sanghyun Park

Looking for Undervalued Stock for Flexible OLED Momentum? SKC Kolon PI Is The One

Samsung Display, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, makes new investments for increasing production of flexible OLED. The main...

Sanghyun Park

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)