"Earned 500 Million Won in Three Months from Samsung Electronics"... Cash-Rich Samyang Foods' Stock Investment Revealed

Invested Around 600 Million Won,
Book Value Reaches 1.06 Billion Won by End of First Half

Samyang Foods invested in Samsung Electronics in the first half of this year and earned nearly 500 million won in profit within three months. As global sales of Buldak Bokkeummyeon surged and its cash reserves rose rapidly, it appears the company invested in highly profitable listed stocks.

According to industry sources on August 18, Samyang Foods purchased 3,188 shares of Samsung Electronics for 599.95 million won on March 6. The average purchase price was approximately 188,000 won per share. As of June 30, the end of the first half, the book value of these shares reached 1,064.79 million won, representing a 77.5% increase in three months. A representative from Samyang Foods stated, "It was a simple investment using the company's cash reserves."

Yonhap News Agency

The share price of Samsung Electronics rose from 188,200 won at the close of trading on March 6 to 334,000 won on June 30. However, in the second half, it fell to 274,500 won as of August 14, representing a 17.8% decline compared to the end of the first half. Consequently, the value of Samyang Foods' stake in Samsung Electronics has likely decreased.

Samyang Foods also purchased shares of Hyundai Motor and Kia at the same time. It acquired 1,103 shares of Hyundai Motor for 599.61 million won and 3,645 shares of Kia for 606.05 million won. As of June 30, the book values of the Hyundai Motor and Kia shares held by Samyang Foods had dropped to 545.99 million won and 530.01 million won, respectively, representing decreases of 8.9% and 17.0% from their purchase prices. In March, Samyang Foods also bought about 600 million won worth of Korea Financial Group shares but sold them all before the end of June, realizing a profit of 19.32 million won from this transaction.

Samyang Foods is rapidly accumulating cash and cash equivalents on the back of Buldak's global popularity. As of the end of the first half of this year, the company's cash and cash equivalents stood at 630.6 billion won, up 89.5% from the end of the previous year. Samyang Foods' cash and cash equivalents increased from 96.9 billion won in 2022 to 218.7 billion won in 2023, and then to 334.8 billion won in 2024.

Meanwhile, Samyang Foods posted record-breaking results in the second quarter (April–June), surpassing 600 billion won in overseas sales for the first time. On a consolidated basis, second-quarter sales reached 770.3 billion won and operating profit was 176.2 billion won, which represented increases of 39.3% and 46.7%, respectively, from the same period a year earlier. For the cumulative first half, sales increased by 37.2% to 1.4847 trillion won, and operating profit grew by 39.0% to 353.3 billion won. The operating margin stood at 22.9% in the second quarter, maintaining the 20% range for six consecutive quarters since the first quarter of last year.

This growth has been driven primarily by the company's overseas business. Second-quarter overseas sales reached 645.8 billion won, a 46.7% increase from a year earlier and the first time quarterly overseas sales exceeded 600 billion won. Sales in the Americas jumped 54% year-on-year to 203.6 billion won. Its European subsidiary achieved 80.6 billion won in sales, up 61%, thanks to robust sales in Germany and France, while its Chinese subsidiary posted 181 billion won in sales, up 44%.

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