Kangwon Land: Growth and Shareholder Returns Possible with Patience [Click e-Stock]

Samsung Securities Sets Target Price at 18,000 Won

On June 16, Samsung Securities maintained its "Buy" investment rating for Kangwon Land and set the target price at 18,000 won.

Hyein Lee, a research analyst at Samsung Securities, stated, "A slowdown in growth is inevitable through next year, but in the short term, attention should be paid to dividends rather than growth." She specifically forecasted sluggish sales growth and a decline in profits until next year, citing limited expansion of casino capacity, renovation of resort facilities, and increased investment costs for establishing a second casino. However, she emphasized that in 2028, simultaneous improvements in both sales and profits can be expected, driven by the opening of the second casino and the normalization of hotel operations.

The analyst predicted that Kangwon Land's full-fledged performance growth phase would begin after 2028, pointing to not only the opening of the second casino but also the expansion of gaming machines and the completion of overall room renovations as positive factors. She added, "In 2028, sales are expected to reach 1.72 trillion won, with operating profit of 310.5 billion won, suggesting the possibility of simultaneous top-line growth and profitability improvement."

She also noted that even if profits decline in the short term, an aggressive shareholder return policy could serve as an incentive to withstand the slowdown in growth. In particular, she highlighted that Kangwon Land maintains a shareholder return rate of around 60%, which is similar to the global casino industry's average dividend payout ratio of 50%. She added that there is a possibility the payout ratio could be increased to over 50% even during periods of declining profits.

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