BL Pharmtech Reflects Losses on Investment in Anyone FNC

KOSDAQ-listed company BL Pharmtech has written off its entire holdings in 'Anyone FNC' shares, which it purchased last year for several billion won, as a total loss. When including previously held redeemable convertible preferred shares and loans to affiliates, the estimated total loss exceeds 12 billion won.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system on March 30, BL Pharmtech processed a total loss of 10.6 billion won at the end of last year, consisting of 7.3 billion won in Anyone FNC common shares and 3.3 billion won in redeemable convertible preferred shares.

Previously, on December 29, 2023, BL Pharmtech acquired a 20.25% stake in Anyone FNC’s redeemable convertible preferred shares for 9.9 billion won. After selling part of these shares, BL Pharmtech still held 3.3 billion won worth (7.55%) as of the end of last year.

Additionally, in April last year, BL Pharmtech acquired 118,000 shares (30.1%) of Anyone FNC from CEO Bong Jongbok for 7.3 billion won.

Anyone FNC is a corporation established for the import and sale of coffee and related food products. Its main products include Koo Coffee, 1883 Syrup, and Mr. Min. The company is introduced in the media as a global specialized distribution company. After acquiring a stake in Anyone FNC in April last year, BL Pharmtech announced plans to target the European market with “Mr. Min Ramen.”

Anyone FNC posted sales of 19.8 billion won and a net loss of 23.9 billion won last year. The company’s total assets were 21.1 billion won, while total liabilities reached 31.1 billion won, resulting in complete capital impairment. Even if the company were liquidated at present, it would still be left with 10 billion won in debt.

Due to Anyone FNC’s significant losses, BL Pharmtech reflected equity method losses in its performance in proportion to its stake, which eventually led to the book value of Anyone FNC shares dropping to zero. There is also an additional 3 billion won in losses that were not reflected because equity method losses exceeded the book value of the holdings.

Furthermore, BL Pharmtech set aside a full allowance for loan losses on the 2 billion won it lent to ‘Anyone France,’ an affiliate of Anyone FNC. This loan was guaranteed by Anyone FNC, but since Anyone FNC has fallen into a state of complete capital impairment, the loan is now classified as unlikely to be recovered.

Anyone FNC owns a 50% stake in Anyone France. The remaining 50% is held by CEO Min Jangsik, who created the Mr. Min brand. Anyone France was the corporation involved when BL Pharmtech discussed contracts with a French company for Mr. Min Ramen.

Regarding this, Park Youngcheol, CEO of BL Pharmtech, stated, “As this was the third and final audit by Samil PwC, we applied the most conservative standards and recognized the impairment at year-end so that if there is a recovery this year, it can be reflected as profit. This is not an actual loss but an accounting loss.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.