2024-03-28 05:40:16
Park Sang-gyu, CEO of SK Innovation, is giving a greeting at the general shareholders’ meeting held at SK Seorin Building in Seorin-dong, Seoul on the 28th. Reporter Seong Sang-hoon
“I invested a total of over 2 billion won, including my wife and children’s accounts, but it was cut in half.”
One shareholder who met at the SK Innovation shareholder meeting held at SK headquarters in Seorin-dong, Seoul on the 28th said this. As SK Innovation’s stock price fell by about 60% from its three-year high, today’s general shareholders’ meeting became a ‘praise’ for improving the company’s performance and returning shareholders.
Shareholders pointed out that SK On is not showing sufficient competitiveness in the battery field, even though the money earned by SK Innovation is being spent on SK On facility investment. In addition, it was mentioned that although SK On is planning a split listing, there is a lack of shareholder compensation measures.
One shareholder said, “SK Innovation’s PBR (price-to-book ratio) is only 0.5 times and its market capitalization is only about 11.5 trillion won,” adding, “Even cathode materials companies with shorter experience make 20 to 30 trillion won. “You should be ashamed. It means you are losing trust in the market and being marginalized,” he pointed out. He added, “They are sacrificing the performance of SK Innovation’s oil refining division, which shareholders should have enjoyed, for SK On, but it is questionable when on earth SK On will turn a profit.”
In fact, SK Innovation’s market capitalization, which exceeded 27 trillion won in February 2021, has currently fallen to the 11 trillion won range. In the actual market, it is analyzed that the huge amount of money that SK Innovation earns from the oil refining business is being used for SK On’s facility investment, but the fact that it is still in the red is affecting the stock price.
Another shareholder who participated in the shareholders’ meeting that day said that SK On’s split listing and its insufficient shareholder compensation plan are holding back the stock price. He said, “If SK On is listed in the future, we plan to make a public offer for stocks equivalent to 10% of the market capitalization and distribute SK On stock rather than cash to shareholders who responded to the tender offer, but this is too inadequate.” He said, “We have lost market trust as 400 billion won of the money raised from shareholders last year through paid-in capital increase was used to repay debt rather than investing in the future. Please come up with a solution.”
However, SK Innovation and SK On executives who attended the shareholders’ meeting on this day expressed their determination to boost the company’s performance and boost its stock price.
Park Sang-gyu, CEO of SK Innovation, said, “This year will be a more challenging environment than ever due to the heightened uncertainty in the external environment,” and added, “We will seek new opportunities by improving the structure of all business areas.” Lee Seok-hee, CEO of SK On, said, “We believe that profitability improvement will be possible with the US joint venture (JV) operating this year,” and added, “We will make a company-wide effort to increase shareholder value.” SK On predicted that it would succeed in turning a profit in the second half of 2024 and that the company would get back on track around 2026.
It also showed confidence in SK On’s battery-related technology. Choi Young-chan, Chief Management Officer of SK On, said, “Regarding the claim that we are technologically inferior compared to LG Energy Solution or Samsung SDI, in fact, our technology is the best. We were the first to do the Hi-Nickel pouch, and we also received the Best Innovation Award at CES.” .
However, it avoided an immediate response to the request to strengthen shareholder compensation measures related to SK On’s split listing. Regarding the demand to strengthen shareholder compensation, Kang Dong-soo, head of SK Innovation’s strategy and finance division, said, “This is a matter that needs to be discussed with the board of directors and other shareholders,” and “I am sorry for only being able to give a basic answer.” He said, “As a company executive, I feel sorry to shareholders for the decline in stock prices.”
Reporter Seong Sang-hoon [email protected]
1711609695
#put #billion #won #childs #account #cut #half.. #Innovation #shareholders #cry