KakaoBank ranked 9th in market cap, beating Celltrion and Kia

KakaoBank, which made a stock market debut on Friday, has joined the ranks of top 10 KOSPI companies in terms of market capitalization as its shares surged for the second straight day. In response, securities companies are scrambling to raise the target stock price of Kakao, the parent company of KakaoBank.

According to Korea Exchange (KRX) on Monday, shares of the Internet-only bank closed at 78,500 won, up 12.46 percent, or 8,700 won, from the previous trading day. KakaoBank doubled in two days after its shares hit the daily limit from the opening price set at 53,700 won on the first day of listing. It soared to 89,100 won at one point but fell below 80,000 won due to profit-taking at the last minute.

KakaoBank’s market cap rose to 37.29 trillion won, beating Celltrion (36.68 trillion won) and Kia (34.94 trillion won) to be included in the top 10 list. It is ranked ninth following Hyundai Motor (46.22 trillion won), excluding Samsung Electronics’ preferred stock. It also became the largest financial company by market cap on Friday, overtaking Shinhan Financial Group.

KakaoBank’s transaction value on Monday accounted for 23.6 percent (3.67 trillion won) of KOSPI’s daily transaction value of 15.51 trillion won. Foreign investors, who bought 225.3 billion won of KakaoBank stocks on the first day of listing, sold 45.2 billion on Monday but individual investors net purchased shares worth 67.7 billion won, pushing the price upward.

There was a controversy surrounding KakaoBank’s initial offering price as its price on book-value ratio (PBR) was excessively higher than exiting bank stocks. However, KakaoBank shares are rallying, beating market expectations, driven by strong growth potential as a financial platform and an edge over existing banks in terms of profit model.


Min-Woo Park minwoo@donga.com