The so-called BBIG – bio, battery, internet and game – category performed twice better than the average of listed Korean companies this year as the pandemic-dominated environment gave them a tailwind for growth.

According to Korea Exchange (KRX) and market tracker FnGuide on Monday, 12 stocks composing Korea’s BBIG K-New Deal index recorded a combined operating profit of 2.15 trillion won ($1.9 billion) during the July to September period, up 45.5 percent from 1.48 trillion won in the same period last year.

During the same period, members on the main Kospi and secondary Kosdaq bourses posted an average of 22.7 percent growth in income over the same time.

KRX, the nation’s sole stock exchange operator, launched the BBIG K-New Deal index consisting of Korea’s leading 12 bio, battery, internet and game stocks like Samsung Biologics, Celltrion, SK Biopharmaceutical, LG Chem, Samsung SDI, SK Innovation, Naver, Kakao, Douzone Bizon, NCSoft, Netmarble and Pear Abyss. It also separately released four indices tracking each sector that hold 10 stocks.

LG Chem delivered the biggest third-quarter operating profit of 902.1 billion won, up 137.2 percent year on year. It achieved the highest quarterly operating profit thanks to a recovery in demand for its petrochemical products and the brisk battery business that generated 168.8 billion won in operating profit.

The country’s top bio name Celltrion raked in 245.3 billion won in operating profit, up 137.8 percent on year. Samsung Biologics’ operating profit grew 139.5 percent to 56.5 billion won.

Operating profit of the country’s largest messenger app operator Kakao also soared 103.5 percent to 120.2 billion won, the biggest internet portal operator Naver 44.3 percent to 291.7 billion won and game publisher NCSoft 68.9 percent to 217.7 billion won.

The 10 bio stocks composing the Bio K-New Deal index posted a combined operating profit of 571.1 billion won, almost quadrupling from last year’s 141.8 billion won.

The 10 game stocks gained 36.8 percent, secondary battery firms 27.7 percent and internet stocks 23.8 percent.

The BBIG stocks are taking a breather after steep gains.

“Investors recently prefer value stocks over growth stocks due to their high valuation, expectations on Covid-19 vaccine development and year-end dividend payout,” Moon Jong-jin, an analyst from Kyobo Securities said. “But growth stocks led by BBIG stocks are likely to bounce back if they maintain the strong earnings growth,” he added.

By Pulse

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