Foreign investors have been gobbling up shares of Kosdaq-listed Partron Co., South Korean mobile camera module maker, on expectations that growing demand for high-end smartphone features is expected to continue to lift up sales of the company’s mainstay components.

According to the Korea Exchange on Tuesday, offshore investors in the January-June period net purchased 117.8 billion won ($101 million) in Partron stocks, the second largest by volume in the secondary Kosdaq market.

Biopharmaceutical company Helixmith Co. was most sought by foreigners, but Partron is much smaller than the Kosdaq bellwether Helixmith with 3 trillion won in market capitalization, three-times larger than Partron’s 1 trillion won.

Partron shares closed Tuesday 3.12 percent higher at 16,500 won, with 1.2 billion won worth shares net purchased by foreigners. On Wednesday, the stocks fell 4.85 percent to close at 15,700 won in Seoul trading.

Partron manufactures electronic parts, mainly camera modules, antennas and sensors for mobile phones and telecommunication devices. It supplies to Samsung Electronics Co. which takes up 85 percent of Partron’s total revenue as of last year.

The company logged losses of 3.7 billion won in the second quarter last year but successfully swung to a profit of 9.6 billion won in the next quarter thanks to the burgeoning demand for high-end smartphone features such as triple- and quad-lens cameras and biometric authentication systems. Its operating profit since then grew to 15.1 billion won in the final quarter last year and to 26.1 billion won in the first three months this year. Since it swung to profit in the third quarter last year, its operating margin came at 57.1 percent and 72.9 percent in the following quarters.

Market analysts expect a stable growth in Partron stocks in the upcoming quarters on the back of the company’s rosy earnings outlook. According to Seoul-based financial data provider FnGuide, the electronic parts maker is expected to earn 107 billion won in operating profit for full this year, up a whopping 250.8 percent from a year ago.

By Chung Hee-young and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]