Korea Line대한해운

Korea Line's trailing profits are solid but have fallen from 2024 peaks, and the shares trade at a low multiple of earnings.

Korea Line is a Korean shipping group whose core business is carrying raw materials like iron ore, LNG and crude oil under long-term contracts with large Korean customers. Filed results show trailing twelve-month revenue of ₩1.2T and operating income of ₩248B for the period to H1 2026, with revenue down from its 2024 level. The shares closed at ₩2,065, below the 52-week high of ₩3,385 but well above the low of ₩1,646.

What stands out

• Trailing operating margin is 20.5% and net margin is 14.7%, but 2025 revenue fell 26.9% from 2024 and net income was ₩180B versus ₩162B, so the picture is mixed year to year.
• Borrowings of ₩933B exceed cash of ₩296B, and liabilities are 63.8% of equity; trailing free cash flow was ₩403B.
• At a P/E of 3.8 and P/B of 0.3, the shares look cheap against peers such as HMM (15.3 P/E) and Heung-A Shipping (18.7 P/E), though the data does not explain the discount.
• The company pays no dividend, and trailing ROE is 8%.
• Recent filings are mostly 5%+ holding reports and several major sales or supply contracts from September and October 2026; no news headlines were in the data.

What to watch

• The next half-year or quarterly results, to see whether revenue and operating margin hold up after the 2025 decline.
• Further major supply contract and 5%+ holding filings, which may show changes in customer relationships or ownership.
• The DCF fair value in the data ranges widely, from ₩1,076 (bear) to ₩8,558 (bull) against a base of ₩3,616, so the outcome depends heavily on assumptions; foreign ownership and short-selling data were not available.