Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Equity Capital Markets

Kakao Bank (KB), South Korea’s largest digital bank, aims to raise up to US$2.2bn in its South Korean IPO. Kakao held a 31.62% stake prior to listing.Even though Kakao started operations only in July 2017, by 2020 it had already garnered more than 1% market share of overall loans and deposits in South Korea. KB’s loans have grown by 138% over 2018 to 1Q21 to reach KRW21.6tn, while its deposits have grown by 197% over the same period to reach KRW24.2tn. Over 2018-20, its total income (Net interest income plus net fee income) grew by 216%, while it went from booking a loss in 2018 to reporting a 26% profit margin by 2020. KB’s total income was up another 60% YoY in 1Q21, while PAT was up 153% YoY.We have covered various aspects of the deal in our previous note, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/kakao-bank-ipo-riding-on-parent-s-network-but-boundaries-with-kakao-pay-remain-unclear" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kakao Bank IPO - Riding on parents network but boundaries with Kakao Pay remain unclear</a>.In this note, we will talk about our earnings estimates and valuation and other issues that will impact the deal.

Kakao Bank (KB), South Korea’s largest digital bank, aims to raise up to US$2.2bn in its South Korean IPO. Kakao held a 31.62% stake prior to listing.Even though Kakao started operations only in July 2017, by 2020 it had already garnered more than 1% market share of overall loans and deposits in South Korea. KB’s loans have grown by 138% over 2018 to 1Q21 to reach KRW21.6tn, while its deposits have grown by 197% over the same period to reach KRW24.2tn. Over 2018-20, its total income (Net interest income plus net fee income) grew by 216%, while it went from booking a loss in 2018 to reporting a 26% profit margin by 2020. KB’s total income was up another 60% YoY in 1Q21, while PAT was up 153% YoY.We have covered various aspects of the deal in our previous note, Kakao Bank IPO - Riding on parents network but boundaries with Kakao Pay remain unclear.In this note, we will talk about our earnings estimates and valuation and other issues that will impact the deal.

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kakaobank-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33501:1" rel="noopener">KakaoBank (1349010D KS)</a> (KB), South Korea’s largest digital bank, aims to raise up to US$2.2bn in its South Korean IPO. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kakao-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15002:1" rel="noopener">Kakao Corp (035720 KS)</a> held a 31.62% stake prior to listing.Kakao Bank is a digital-bank which counts Kakao as its main shareholder. It is a branchless digital bank that only started operations in 2017. As of Mar 21, it had a loan book of US$18.8bn, deposit base of US$21.1bn. It had 16.5m customers as of May 21.

KakaoBank (1349010D KS) (KB), South Korea’s largest digital bank, aims to raise up to US$2.2bn in its South Korean IPO. Kakao Corp (035720 KS) held a 31.62% stake prior to listing.Kakao Bank is a digital-bank which counts Kakao as its main shareholder. It is a branchless digital bank that only started operations in 2017. As of Mar 21, it had a loan book of US$18.8bn, deposit base of US$21.1bn. It had 16.5m customers as of May 21.

Kakao Bank IPO - Riding on Parent's Network but Boundaries with Kakao Pay Remain Unclear

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

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Our base case valuation of Kakao Bank is market cap of 26.8 trillion won or implied price of 56,144 won per share. This represents 44% higher than the high end of the IPO price range of 39,000 won but 34% lower than the current private market value of <a href="http://www.ipo38.co.kr/ipo/index.htm?o=v&amp;key=6&amp;no=1676&amp;l=&amp;page=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">85,000 won. </a>Given the solid upside versus the IPO price range, we have a Positive Rating of the Kakao Bank IPO. 
All in all, we believe that the there could be a nice 30-50%+ upside relative to the high end of the IPO price range (39,000 won). Nonetheless, although Kakao Bank's share could reach the private market value (85,000 won) on the first day of trading, over a longer time frame (6-12 months), we are more comfortable with the base case valuation of 56,144 won (26.8 trillion won) as a new entrant (Toss Bank) as well as existing major banks are likely to heighten their competitive pressures on the company. 
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Our base case valuation of Kakao Bank is market cap of 26.8 trillion won or implied price of 56,144 won per share. This represents 44% higher than the high end of the IPO price range of 39,000 won but 34% lower than the current private market value of 85,000 won. Given the solid upside versus the IPO price range, we have a Positive Rating of the Kakao Bank IPO. 
All in all, we believe that the there could be a nice 30-50%+ upside relative to the high end of the IPO price range (39,000 won). Nonetheless, although Kakao Bank's share could reach the private market value (85,000 won) on the first day of trading, over a longer time frame (6-12 months), we are more comfortable with the base case valuation of 56,144 won (26.8 trillion won) as a new entrant (Toss Bank) as well as existing major banks are likely to heighten their competitive pressures on the company. 


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

This weekend, several local media published articles stating that all major domestic financial holding companies are positively reviewing interim dividends this year. These media said that they had heard so from insiders in the local financial sector.Hana Financial Group has paid interim dividends every year. Although the other financial holding companies are able to pay interim dividends under the articles of incorporation, they have never done so.<div class="content-highlight">The FSC conducted a stress test on banks and financial holding companies this month, and as all of them passed, the recommendation to limit dividends came to an end at the end of this month.</div>Therefore, it is highly likely that each financial holding company will hold a board meeting to determine an interim dividend after the 2Q earnings release. As dividends were limited at the beginning of this year by the financial authorities, all of them will likely pay interim dividends.

This weekend, several local media published articles stating that all major domestic financial holding companies are positively reviewing interim dividends this year. These media said that they had heard so from insiders in the local financial sector.Hana Financial Group has paid interim dividends every year. Although the other financial holding companies are able to pay interim dividends under the articles of incorporation, they have never done so.The FSC conducted a stress test on banks and financial holding companies this month, and as all of them passed, the recommendation to limit dividends came to an end at the end of this month.Therefore, it is highly likely that each financial holding company will hold a board meeting to determine an interim dividend after the 2Q earnings release. As dividends were limited at the beginning of this year by the financial authorities, all of them will likely pay interim dividends.

Interim Div Yield Projections of Korean Financial Holdcos Ahead of June 29 Ex-Div Date

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In this insight, we provide an update of Kakao Bank which is getting ready to release its IPO prospectus in the coming days. Even without the prospectus, the company has already provided a lot of the the company's financials, industry analysis, and other materials in its annual and quarterly earnings filings. In this insight, we try to provide some of our key findings from its financial filings of Kakao Bank, but excluding the bankers' valuation assessment which is not yet available. 
Kakao Bank is expected to be one of the largest IPOs in Korea in 2021. In the gray market, it is currently trading at 96,500 won per share or 39.5 trillion won. The two largest banks in Korea are <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kb-financial-group-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:718:1" rel="noopener">KB Financial (105560 KS)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/shinhan-financial-group-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6978:1" rel="noopener">Shinhan Financial (055550 KS),</a> which have market caps of 22.9 trillion won and 20.6 trillion won, respectively. As a result, Kakao Bank's market cap (in the gray market) is close to the combined market caps of KB Financial and Shinhan Financial (43.5 trillion won) which is quite remarkable. 
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In this insight, we provide an update of Kakao Bank which is getting ready to release its IPO prospectus in the coming days. Even without the prospectus, the company has already provided a lot of the the company's financials, industry analysis, and other materials in its annual and quarterly earnings filings. In this insight, we try to provide some of our key findings from its financial filings of Kakao Bank, but excluding the bankers' valuation assessment which is not yet available. 
Kakao Bank is expected to be one of the largest IPOs in Korea in 2021. In the gray market, it is currently trading at 96,500 won per share or 39.5 trillion won. The two largest banks in Korea are KB Financial (105560 KS) and Shinhan Financial (055550 KS), which have market caps of 22.9 trillion won and 20.6 trillion won, respectively. As a result, Kakao Bank's market cap (in the gray market) is close to the combined market caps of KB Financial and Shinhan Financial (43.5 trillion won) which is quite remarkable. 


South Korea

Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd., a holding company, provides a full range of consumer and commercial banking-related financial services.  The company's main businesses include banking, securities brokerage, trust banking, and assets management to individuals, businesses, and other financial institutions.

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Shinhan Financial Group Adr (SHG US)

Kakao Bank IPO - Pricey as It Should Be

Kakao Bank (KB), South Korea’s largest digital bank, aims to raise up to US$2.2bn in its South Korean IPO. Kakao held a 31.62% stake prior to listing.

Sumeet Singh

Kakao Bank IPO - Riding on Parent's Network but Boundaries with Kakao Pay Remain Unclear

KakaoBank (1349010D KS) (KB), South Korea’s largest digital bank, aims to raise up to US$2.2bn in its South Korean IPO. Kakao Corp (035720 KS) held...

Sumeet Singh

Kakao Bank Valuation Analysis

Our base case valuation of Kakao Bank is market cap of 26.8 trillion won or implied price of 56,144 won per share. This represents 44% higher than...

Douglas Kim

Interim Div Yield Projections of Korean Financial Holdcos Ahead of June 29 Ex-Div Date

This post projects the interim dividend yields of the four major Korean financial holding companies ahead of the June 29 ex-dividend date.

Sanghyun Park

An Update on the Kakao Bank IPO

We provide an update of Kakao Bank which is getting ready to release its IPO prospectus in the coming days. In the gray market, it is trading at...

Douglas Kim

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