Hankook & Company: High Margins and Low Book Multiple, With Limited Flow and News Data

Thesis

The data supports a picture of a holding company with strong reported profitability and a low balance-sheet burden. Trailing operating margin is 30.0%, net margin 27.4%, and liabilities to equity just 9.7%. The shares trade at a P/E of 6.4 and P/B of 0.5, with a dividend yield of 4.1%.

What the data does not settle: ROE is only 8.2%, which is moderate against the high margins. Revenue growth slowed to 4.8% in 2025 after 27.7% in 2024. The price is 27.3% below its 52-week high of ₩36,450, though 23.0% above the low of ₩21,550. Investor flows, foreign ownership and short balance are not available, so positioning cannot be assessed.

Business overview

Hankook & Company (code 000240) is listed on KOSPI and classified in the data as a holding company. It was founded on 1941-05-10 and listed on 1968-12-27, with 94,935,240 listed shares. It has two co-CEOs, 박종호 and 김준현. Market cap is ₩2.5T and enterprise value is ₩2.5T. Revenue rose from ₩963.3B in 2021 to ₩1.46T in 2025, with a dip of 0.6% in 2023 and a jump of 27.7% in 2024.

Financial analysis

All figures come from filed financial statements (DART), consolidated where available.

For the trailing period to H1 2026, revenue was ₩1.44T, operating income ₩432.7B and net income ₩395.6B. Operating margin was 30.0% and net margin 27.4%.

Annual history: 2025 revenue was ₩1.46T (up 4.8%), operating income ₩411.6B (28.2% margin) and net income ₩347.2B. In 2024, revenue was ₩1.39T, operating income ₩418.3B (30.1%) and net income ₩350.7B. In 2023 revenue was ₩1.09T with a 23.5% margin and net income of ₩187.2B. In 2022 and 2021, margins were 22.4% and 23.7%. ROE rose from 4.3% in 2022 to 8.3% in 2024, was 7.5% in 2025 and is 8.2% trailing.

Balance sheet: cash is ₩87.8B against borrowings of ₩103.4B, and liabilities to equity is 9.7%. Free cash flow is ₩150.7B, well below net income of ₩395.6B.

Valuation

The current P/E is 6.4, versus a year-end 2025 P/E of 7.1. P/B is 0.5, unchanged from year-end 2025. Price to sales is 1.7 and the dividend yield is 4.1%. EV/EBITDA is not available, and earlier year-end multiples are not available.

Peers in the data are mostly much larger financial and holding groups. P/E: SK Square 4.0, SK 4.9, Hana 8.6, Shinhan 9.3, KB 9.9. P/B: Hana 0.8, Shinhan 0.8, KB 1.0, SK 1.1, SK Square 2.4. Hankook & Company has a lower P/B than all of them, and its P/E sits between the SK group names and the banks. These peers differ in business mix and size, so the comparison is only indicative.

Catalysts

• A production stoppage was filed on 2026-08-25 and a resumption on 2026-09-04, and the data gives no detail on scope or financial effect.
• The half-year report and preliminary consolidated earnings were filed on 2026-08-14 and 2026-08-12, giving the latest trailing figures.
• Cash dividend decisions were filed on 2026-08-06 and 2026-08-10, including a subsidiary-related decision, which bears on the 4.1% yield.
• A 5%+ holding report was filed on 2026-09-09, which points to a change in a major shareholding, though the data gives no details.
• An investor relations event was held on 2026-08-03.

Risks

• Revenue growth slowed to 4.8% in 2025 from 27.7% in 2024, so the earlier pace is not confirmed.
• Free cash flow of ₩150.7B is well below trailing net income of ₩395.6B, which suggests reported profit is not fully matched by cash generation.
• The recent production stoppage and restart show operational disruption, with unknown impact.
• Investor flows, foreign ownership, short balance and news are unavailable, so market sentiment cannot be checked.
• The shares sit 27.3% below the 52-week high, and a low P/B has persisted, showing the market has not re-rated the stock on the data shown.

Closing view

The filed numbers show high margins, little leverage, a P/E of 6.4 and a P/B of 0.5, which stand out against the listed peers. Against that, ROE of 8.2%, slowing revenue growth, free cash flow below net income and a recent production halt temper the picture. Missing flow, short interest and news data limit the view of market positioning. The evidence is mixed and does not by itself point to a conclusion about the share price.

Model estimate of fair value

The valuation model has no estimate for this company yet (not enough data, or no positive value with the base case).

Report history

1. Oct 13, 2026InitiationHankook & Company: High Margins and Low Book Multiple, With Limited Flow and News Data