(LEAD) Newly listed Kakao Games up by daily maximum for 2nd day

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SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) -- Kakao Games, the game developing unit of South Korean mobile giant Kakao, skyrocketed by the daily permissible maximum for the second consecutive day Friday.

The gaming company spiked 29.97 percent to close at 81,100 won (US$68) on the secondary KOSDAQ, following its market debut Thursday.

The company closed at 62,400 won the previous day, sharply up from the IPO price of 24,000 won.

The business now stands as the third most-valued stock on the KOSDAQ, with a market cap of 5.9 trillion won.

Prior to its IPO, investors rushed to Kakao Games for its growth potential amid the coronavirus pandemic. They chipped in 58.5 trillion won in deposits to buy its stocks, the largest in the country's IPO history.

Last year, Kakao Games posted an operating profit of 35 billion won on sales of 391 billion won.

In the first half of the year, its operating profit came to 28.7 billion won, up 63.7 percent from a year earlier.

The company plans to use the proceeds from the IPO to develop a dozen new games, including "Elyon" for PC and Odin for mobile devices.

The business is pushing to launch the two large-scale massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) by the end of this year.

Kakao Corp. owns the largest 58.96 percent stake in Kakao Games, which has been broadening its presence not only in South Korea but across Asia with the help of popular mobile messenger KakaoTalk after its inception in April 2016.

jwc@yna.co.kr
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