À̹ÌÁö È®´ë [Photo by Lee Seoung-hwan]
The combined market capitalization of Kakao Corp.¡¯s two financial units – Kakao Bank Corp. and Kakao Pay Corp. – has exceeded that of South Korea¡¯s top four financial holding firms as foreign and institutional investors have gobbled up their shares, betting on the fintech platforms¡¯ new financial services.
On Monday, Kakao Bank shares closed up 3.08 percent from the previous session at 70,300 won ($59.2), while shares of its sister company Kakao Pay that joined the main Kospi earlier this month closed 7.19 percent higher at 238,500 won. Kakao Bank shares jumped 33.4 percent versus 52,600 won on Nov. 8, and Kakao Pay shares surged 70 percent over the last 12 trading days after plummeting to as low as 140,000 won on Nov. 11.
Kakao Bank shares were down 2.7 percent at 68,400 won on Tuesday morning, and Kakao Pay 3.35 percent at 230,500 won.
Thanks to the latest rally, the combined market capitalization of Kakao Pay and Kakao Bank amounted to 64.5 trillion won as of Monday, higher than a total of 63.2 trillion won in market value of the country¡¯s top four financial holding firms.
Kakao Pay¡¯s market capitalization reached 31.09 trillion won to rank No. 11 on the benchmark Kospi. Its market capitalization is higher than those of Celltrion (29.3 trillion won), Krafton (24.97 trillion won), and Posco (23.06 trillion won). Kakao Pay is also ahead of KB Financial Group (23 trillion won) that boasts the largest market cap among the local financial holding companies. Its bigger sibling Kakao Bank¡¯s market cap hit 33.4 trillion won.
Kakao duo stocks have outperformed the broad market, with the Kospi testing the 2,900 level amid growing uncertainties in the global financial world due to building up inflationary pressure and new Covid-19 variant Omicron.
Institutional investors at home and abroad have been behind the recent shopping spree of Kakao Bank and Kakao Pay shares.
Offshore investors net purchased 250.9 billion won in Kakao Bank shares between Nov. 8 and 29. Local institutional investors also bought 645.9 billion won in Kakao Pay shares during the same period. Pension funds, in particular, bought 484.9 billion won worth of Kakao Pay shares.
The rally in Kakao Bank also came as the stock joined Morgan Stanley Capital International and Financial Times Stock Exchange indices. Brokerage industry projected that foreign investors have net purchased 64 billion won worth of Kakao Bank shares since they joined the FTSE index.
Kakao Pay will also be joining the Kospi 200 Index on Dec. 9.
Kakao Pay logged 17.9 billion won in losses last year, narrowing from 65.3 billion won in 2019. Despite the continued loss, investors bet on the company¡¯s efforts to expand its financial services including insurance and brokerage services on top of its simple payment service.
By Cha Chang-hee and Lee Eun-joo
[¨Ï Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]