HD Hyundai Marine Solution surged more than 9% in early trading, buoyed by strong first-quarter results and upbeat brokerage assessments that the stock still has room to rise.
According to the Korea Exchange, shares were trading at 277,000 won as of 10:04 a.m., up 23,500 won, or 9.27%, from the previous session.
The company said in a filing on April 24 that first-quarter revenue totaled 574.6 billion won and operating profit came to 93.4 billion won. Revenue rose 18.3% from a year earlier and operating profit increased 12.5%.
Brokerages have pointed to additional upside potential.
Samsung Securities said it expects investor sentiment to improve on expectations of rising demand for liquefied natural gas, or LNG, facility retrofits amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, as well as the group’s expansion of its onshore power-generation engine business. Reflecting a higher valuation for the industrials sector, it raised its target price by 36.9% to 347,000 won.
In a report Monday, Samsung Securities analyst Han Young-soo said revenue in the bunkering business jumped on higher oil prices, while the company’s overall profit margin edged down as the lower-margin bunkering segment took a larger share of sales. He added that margins in core businesses excluding bunkering improved from a year earlier and from the previous quarter.
Han said net profit “far exceeded” market expectations as foreign-exchange-related gains were reflected. He said core business revenue posted a 19% compound annual growth rate over the past three years and is expected to grow 20% this year.
He also said the Iran war is expected to spur LNG projects outside the Middle East, and that gas-importing countries have incentives to diversify supply sources for security reasons, raising the likelihood of increased demand for retrofits of floating storage and regasification units, or FSRUs, and floating storage units, or FSUs.
Han added that maintenance work is also under way for engines already installed, and said the group’s shipbuilding volume is rising on a strong shipbuilding market and overseas expansion, while most overhang concerns have been resolved.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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