Hotel Shilla shares rose more than 4% in early trading Monday after the company reported stronger first-quarter results and said President Lee Boo-jin would buy company stock.
According to the Korea Exchange, Hotel Shilla was trading at 64,900 won as of 9:44 a.m., up 2,600 won, or 4.17%, from the previous session. The stock climbed as high as 67,800 won intraday, a 52-week high.
The move reflected expectations for improved earnings and stronger management accountability. Hotel Shilla said in a filing on April 24 that its consolidated operating profit for the first quarter was provisionally tallied at 20.4 billion won, swinging to a profit from an operating loss of 2.5 billion won a year earlier. Revenue rose 8.4% to 1.0535 trillion won, and net profit also returned to the black at 6.0 billion won.
Lee will buy about 20 billion won worth of the company’s shares on the open market from Monday through April 30. The company previously disclosed the plan on March 26, saying it reflected a commitment to responsible management and enhancing shareholder value.
Mirae Asset Securities analyst Bae Song-yi said the company is in a period when investors can hold higher expectations for results from the second quarter and beyond. She said inbound demand is growing structurally, bringing the peak season forward compared with past years, and that duty-free market conditions have already begun to improve meaningfully since March.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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