July 5, 2012 2H12 Outlook Report Industry Report Holding companies (Overweight) Daewoo Securities Co., Ltd. Dae-ro Jeong +822-768-4160
[email protected] Investment opportunities during transition to holding structure Holding companiesÊ shares significantly outperformed the KOSPI early this year (after displaying sluggishness at end-2011). However, due to the protracted European crisis, they have pulled back once again. As a result, they are trading at the upper end of their historical discount range. However, we believe the current significant discount presents investors with a buying opportunity. Generally speaking, when the stock market is bearish, holding companiesÊ shares tend to significantly underperform the shares of their subsidiaries and the KOSPI. But when the market turns bullish, they tend to rebound quickly, since they are considered deeply undervalued (relative to their asset values). In selecting our top picks for 2H, we took into account valuation merits as well as growth prospects (amid a myriad of economic uncertainties). We recommend SK Holdings (003600 KS) and Doosan Corp. (000150 KS) as our top picks. When a company adopts a holding structure, the management control (i.e. ownership succession) of its controlling shareholder is usually strengthened. Given that politicians are whispering about bringing back a shareholding cap, banning circular shareholding, and placing new restrictions on holding structure conversion process, companies are rushing to adopt holding structures to achieve smooth ownership succession and attain greater management control. Companies that are currently pushing to adopt holding structures are doing so to prepare for ownership succession or to increase the ownership stakes of their respective controlling shareholders.