South Korea’s Hanjin KAL to seek Jin Air IPO within the year

Hanjin Group running the country’s flag carrier Korean Air (KAL) has embarked on procedure for an initial public offering of budget carrier Jin Air Co., which would be the second low-cost player to go public after Jeju Air in November 2015.

According to investment bank sources on Tuesday, Jin Air sent out invitations to select underwriters next month to pursue an IPO towards the end of the year.

Jin Air established in 2008 is fully-owned by Hanjin KAL Corp., the holding entity for Hanjin Group, and ranks the second biggest among six domestic LCCs after Jeju. Its operating and net profit soared 211 percent and 202 percent to 52.3 billion won ($46.67 million) and 39.3 billion won, respectively, last year from 2014. Revenue more than doubled from 351 billion won to 719.7 billion won over the two-year period.

The group is hoping to use the proceeds from selling shares in Jin Air to bolster its capital base. It has used up its cash reserves to have KAL buy shares and assets to help out now-defunct Hanjin Shipping. The holding company’s debt totaled 352 billion won as of December 2016, of which 283 billion won must be paid within a year.

Industry observers estimate Jin Air would be worth at least 500 billion won.

Shares of Hanjin KAL ended Tuesday at 18,550 won, up 4.21 percent or 750 won from the previous session.

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]