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| K9 자주포. (사진=한화에어로스페이스) |
[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] Shares rose more than 7% on the 26th as Hanwha Aerospace broke its all-time high performance last year.
According to the Korea Exchange, Hanwha Aerospace closed at 166,200 won, up 7.85% from the previous trading day. It once jumped more than 9% to 168,100 won, breaking its 52-week high during the day.
The rise in stock prices is attributed to the "earning surprise" in its fourth-quarter earnings announcement last year. Sales and operating profit reached 9.3697 trillion won and 704.9 billion won on a consolidated basis last year, up 33% and 76%, respectively, from a year earlier. In the fourth quarter of last year alone, sales and operating profit reached KRW 3.4424 trillion and KRW 289.5 billion, respectively, up 33% and 80% from the same period last year.
The defense sector posted sales of 4.1338 trillion won and operating profit of 572.7 billion won, boosting its overall performance. Compared to last year's total sales, sales reached 44.1% and operating profit reached 81%. Defense exports exceeded expectations, making up for both the aerospace sector's deficit and Hanwha Vision's falling profit margin. The shortage of ammunition and guided weapons around the world due to geopolitical crises such as the Russia-Ukraine War and the Israel-Hamas War also affected the strong defense business.
Mirae Asset Securities raised its target price by 40% from 150,000 won to 210,000 won.
"While there is a very high possibility that the K9 will be adopted for the 1 trillion won new self-propelled artillery project, it seems that we are discussing K9 and Redback armored vehicles with a number of countries in Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region," KB Securities said, raising the target price from 170,000 won to 195,000 won.
AlphaBIZ 폴 리(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
