Shares of battery makers flying high on growth optimism

SEOUL, Jan. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's three battery makers have been on a roll as investors swoop on them amid growing optimism for their future growth, industry sources said Friday.

LG Chem Ltd, the parent of LG Energy Solution Ltd.; Samsung SDI Co; and SK Innovation Co. finished at record highs on the Seoul bourse Thursday amid expectations that eco-friendly policies across the global will increase demand for electric vehicles, powering their growth down the road.

LG Energy Solution, which spun off from LG Chem in early December, closed at 962,000 won (US$880.20), up 8.09 percent from the previous session. Samsung SDI jumped 2.65 percent to 698,000 won, and SK Innovation climbed 2.33 percent to 263,000 won.

It marked the first time for share prices of the three battery makers to reach record highs.

In particular, shares of SK Innovation, which is also the country's top oil refiner, hit a 10-year high on Wednesday.

The sharp increase in share prices of the battery makers has also catapulted their market capitalization to fresh highs.

The market value of LG Chem stood at 67.9 trillion won on Thursday, ranking third after global tech titan Samsung Electronics Co. and chip giant SK hynix Inc.

Samsung SDI placed seventh with a market cap of about 48 trillion won, with SK innovation coming 17th with 24.3 trillion won.

Local brokerage houses have raised their target prices for the three battery manufacturers, predicting their business growth will continue down the road.

Samsung Securities Co. has hiked its target price on LG Chem to 1.25 million won from 920,000 won, saying the company's sales from the battery business will likely soar 48 percent on-year to 18.4 trillion won this year.

Hanwha Investment & Securities Co. has raised its target price for Samsung SDI by 26.5 percent to 860,000 won, projecting its profitability will improve sharply on a surge in demand for electric cars and energy storage systems.

Forecasting the battery segment of SK innovation to show rapid growth in the future, NH Investment & Securities Co. has jacked up its target price on the company to 330,000 won.
(END)