e-STARCO이스타코

e-STARCO remains loss-making with heavy borrowings, and its share price has fallen about 25% over the past year.

The Seoul-listed real estate company, which also runs English academies and a hotel, reported trailing twelve-month revenue of ₩14.4B to H1 2026 but an operating loss of ₩2.1B and a net loss of ₩3.7B. Borrowings stand at ₩31.4B against cash of only ₩0.1B, and free cash flow was negative ₩8.2B. The shares closed at ₩928 on 2026-10-16, a market capitalisation of about ₩19.9B.

What stands out

• Losses have persisted across most recent years: 2025 operating income was -₩0.4B and net income -₩1.4B, though 2025 revenue rose 43% to ₩16.4B.
• Trailing operating margin is -14.3% and net margin -25.4%, with return on equity at -10%.
• Liabilities are 123.2% of equity, and borrowings are far larger than cash on hand.
• The company pays no dividend, and price-to-book is 0.6 while price-to-earnings is not meaningful because earnings are negative.
• Foreign ownership is 2.7%, unchanged over the past 60 days.
• The half-year report for June 2026 carried an adverse opinion, disclaimer of opinion or complete capital impairment notice from the auditor's semi-annual review, and an amended version was filed on 2026-10-16.

What to watch

• The amended half-year report filed on 2026-10-16 and any further changes to the auditor's review conclusion.
• The next quarterly results and whether operating losses and negative free cash flow narrow.
• Shareholder meeting notices and the share consolidation decision from May 2026, which the data does not explain in detail.