KG Chemical directly runs fertilizer and fine chemicals (concrete admixtures, nickel sulfate, and the like) while at the same time holding subsidiaries such as KG Steel, KG Mobility, and KG Inicis, making it an operating holding company; most of its consolidated revenue in the ₩9 trillion range comes from subsidiaries, so it must be viewed as the sum of the operating value of its own chemicals and the stake value of the subsidiaries it holds. In May, confirmed Q1 2026 results were disclosed and a treasury-share buyback was completed; a cash and in-kind dividend decision in April and a subsidiary stake-disposal decision in June showed that shareholder returns and asset restructuring are being carried into execution. The key point to watch is that with a trailing P/E of 3.88x, a P/B of 0.27x, a low forward P/E as well, and an ROE above the sector average, and with the value of its listed-subsidiary stakes alone explaining about 74% of the market cap, it looks appealing, whereas a consolidated debt ratio of 835% is a structural feature of summing subsidiaries, so it weakens if the subsidiaries' industries (steel, autos, payments) turn down together or the parent's chemical profitability slows.
At-a-glance assessment financial health · growth · profitability · valuation
- Debt far exceeds equity (debt ratio 835.2%).
- Revenue rose 2.7% year over year, and the pace is quickening (3-year trend: mixed).
- Most recent quarter (Q1 2026) revenue was 12.8% higher than a year earlier.
- ROE is 7.0% (controlling-interest basis). It is above the sector average.
- Operating margin is 3.4%.
- Valued against the net asset value (NAV) of its listed holdings rather than a consolidated P/E — see the in-depth valuation for the detailed basis.
Ownership & governance As of 2025-12-31
Largest shareholder Kwak Jae-sun 16.59% (individual)
Controlling bloc incl. related parties 54.04%
With the controlling bloc holding 54%, control is very secure but the free float is thin.
Net asset value (NAV) assessment Fairly valued
💡 How to read a holding company · A holding company owns stakes in several subsidiaries. Its P/E swings with equity-method gains and losses on those stakes, so read it only as a rough guide. P/B is more meaningful because subsidiary stakes sit in equity, but book value carries them at low historical cost (so P/B looks higher than reality). The most accurate view is the price against the market value of those stakes (NAV) ↓
Valued against the net asset value (NAV) of its listed holdings rather than a consolidated P/E — see the in-depth valuation for the detailed basis.
Listed subsidiaries ownership
| KG Eco Solution | 42.64% |
| KG Inicis | 40.09% |
| KG Mobility | 0% |
🔎 In-depth analysis
- The businesses KG Chemical runs directly are fertilizer (urea, compound fertilizer, and other agricultural products) and fine chemicals (concrete admixtures, and nickel sulfate used as a secondary-battery material).
- In addition, the company holds several subsidiaries through its stakes.
- KG Steel, which makes color-coated and cold-rolled steel; KG Mobility, a finished-vehicle maker; and KG Inicis, an electronic-payment (PG) firm, are consolidated, and most of the roughly ₩9 trillion in consolidated revenue the company reports comes from these subsidiaries.
- In other words, KG Chemical has two characters at once: 'a company that directly runs fertilizer and chemicals' and 'an operating holding company presiding over the KG Group.' That is why there is a large gap between the scale of the core chemical business (in the hundreds of billions of won) and consolidated revenue (in the ₩9 trillion range).
- Thanks to this structure, the company's value is read properly only by summing the operating value of its own chemicals and the stake value of the subsidiaries it holds.
- The latest close is ₩4,105 and the market cap is ₩276.0 billion.
- The price sits below its 20-day line (₩4,317) and below its 60-day line (₩5,072).
- Trading beneath both its short- and mid-term moving averages, the trend is subdued.
- The RSI (a supplementary gauge that scores the balance of up-days versus down-days over the past 14 days on a 0-100 scale) is 40.2, a neutral level.
- The one-month change is -8.3%, the three-month change is -21.4%, and the position versus the 52-week high is -41.9%.
- Relative strength against the KOSPI is 14 (1-99, computed from returns against the index over the past year with recent performance weighted more heavily; higher means stronger than the market).
- That places it in roughly the top 86% of all stocks by strength.
- Over the past three months it has lagged the index by 40.0%.
- Chart readings are best interpreted alongside trading volume and disclosure dates.
- On a trailing full-year (2025) basis, the P/E ratio (how many times a year's net profit the share price represents) is 3.96x and the P/B ratio (how many times book net assets the share price represents) is 0.28x, both low.
- ROE (how much is earned on equity in a year) is 7.0%, above the chemical-sector average (4.0%).
- That is, it trades cheap relative to assets while its return on capital is better than the sector average.
- The debt ratio (debt against equity) shows as high at 835%, but this results from summing the debt of consolidated subsidiaries (especially businesses with thin equity or heavy borrowing), not the parent, so it must be distinguished from the financial burden of the parent's chemical business.
- The low P/E is on a 'profit already confirmed last year' (trailing) basis, but the forward P/E on this year's expected profit is in fact even lower than the trailing figure.
- This means this year's profit is heading higher than last year's, a signal that the low P/E does not reflect a profit downturn.
- The operating margin of 3.4% is not thick, but the thin margin reflects the nature of large-revenue businesses like fertilizer and steel.
- Revenue over the past three years held roughly steady at ₩8.9 trillion in 2023, ₩8.9 trillion in 2024, and ₩9.1 trillion in 2025, and versus the prior year it turned up, rising 2.7%.
- Operating profit fell from ₩448.2 billion in 2023 to ₩305.7 billion in 2025, but the pace of decline is shrinking each year (from -28% last year to -4% this year), so the slowdown itself is easing.
- Net profit rose 12.6% year-on-year to ₩69.7 billion in 2025.
- This year's flow is clearer still.
- Cumulative Q1 2026 revenue was ₩2.4 trillion, up 12.8% year-on-year, and net profit rose 25.3% to ₩92.0 billion.
- Q1 operating profit of ₩64.6 billion was down from a year earlier, but the double-digit growth in top-line revenue and the accompanying rise in net profit form the base of this year's profit improvement.
- Reflecting this revenue recovery and the subsidiaries' profit contribution, this year's forward P/E is lower than the trailing P/E (3.88x).
- In other words, this year's profit is a picture of increase over last year, with the listed subsidiaries it holds (steel, autos, payments) each recovering margins in low single-digit P/E territory as the basis.
- There is not yet clear grounds to expect profit next year and beyond to fall below this year's.
- Recent disclosures show a flow befitting a holding and group company.
- Consolidated preliminary results (fair disclosure) on May 7 and the quarterly report on May 15 disclosed confirmed Q1 2026 results, and a treasury-share buyback results report on May 6 confirmed that the share buyback was actually completed.
- On April 30, a cash and in-kind dividend decision (revised) was disclosed, continuing the dividend policy.
- Into June came an investor-relations (IR) session announcement on the 2nd, a decision by a subsidiary to dispose of shares in another company on the 5th (a subsidiary tidying up a stake), and a rumor/media clarification (unconfirmed) disclosure on the 9th.
- The share buyback and dividend show that shareholder returns are being carried into execution, not just words, and the subsidiary stake tidy-up reads as a group-level asset restructuring move.
- The rumor clarification stated the company's position that nothing has yet been confirmed regarding an issue circulating in the market, and it is best to confirm in the original text whether a follow-up confirming disclosure appears.
- On top of a trailing P/E of 3.88x and a P/B of 0.27x, this stock sits at a valuation whose forward P/E for this year is also low even against chemical and in-group peers, while its ROE exceeds the sector average, which is a clear strength.
- The value of its listed-subsidiary stakes alone explains about 74% of the market cap, and shareholder returns such as buybacks and dividends and asset restructuring such as subsidiary stake tidy-ups are actually underway.
- A point to view alongside is that the consolidated figures (₩9 trillion revenue, an 835% debt ratio) are a subsidiary sum rather than the parent, a structural feature.
- Value must therefore be viewed on a sum-of-the-parts basis, adding subsidiary stake value to the operating value of the parent's chemicals, and the subsidiaries' industries (steel, autos, payments) drive profit.
- In sum, it is strong when the low valuation and rising profit and subsidiary stake value are reflected in the market through catalysts such as dividends or structural simplification, and weak when the subsidiaries' industries turn down together or the parent's chemical profitability slows again.
- Rather than concluding either way, the key is to view together the strength of a cheap valuation relative to assets and the structure of subsidiary dependence.
🔎 Valuation vs peers Inconclusive
A single chemical-sector comparison distorts this company's substance. To view both the parent's chemicals (fertilizer, fine chemicals) and its operating-holding character, the comparison uses (a) the core subsidiary consolidated within the same KG Group (KG Steel) and (b) chemical/materials peers (TKG Huchems, KCC). All figures are on the same site-internal basis (at the current price).
| Peer | P/E | P/B | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| KG Steel | 3.75x | 0.25x | 6.57% |
| TKG Huchems | 10.95x | 0.73x | 6.64% |
| KCC | 2.48x | 0.49x | 19.66% |
(a) Position versus peers: a consolidated P/E of 4.6x and P/B of 0.32x are low even compared with chemical peers (TKG Huchems at 10.7x and 0.71x, KCC at 2.8x and 0.55x) or in-group KG Steel (4.5x and 0.30x). (b) Premium/discount: however, an operating holding company tends to trade at a discount to net assets depending on how much the market recognizes subsidiary stake value on top of the parent's operating value (holding-company discount), and this stock's low P/B has that character mixed in. (c) Limits of trailing and basis for forward: 2025 operating profit declined trend-wise and Q1 operating profit was also -39%, so a P/E calculated on last year's confirmed profit may overstate the current profit flow. Conversely, calculating with a seasonality-approximated forward net profit (₩256.8 billion) lowers the P/E, but this approximated net profit is a consolidated total including the minority-shareholder portion of subsidiaries, so it overstates the profit attributable to KG Chemical shareholders. It is therefore hard to conclude cheap or expensive on a single P/E, so we leave it inconclusive. Viewing it properly requires a sum-of-the-parts approach that separately adds the parent's operating value and the core subsidiaries' stake value.
Earnings outlook company-stated · verified
| Type | Period | Revenue | Operating profit | Net profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Next quarter | Q2 2026 | ₩2.4 trillion | ₩65.3 billion | ₩97.9 billion |
Price history Close · MA20 · MA60
The latest close is ₩4,105 and the market capitalization is ₩276.0 billion. The price sits below its 20-day moving average (₩4,317) and below its 60-day moving average (₩5,072). It is under both its short- and medium-term moving averages, so the trend looks subdued. The RSI (a supplementary indicator that gauges the strength of gains versus losses over the past 14 days on a 0-100 scale) is 40.2, a neutral level. The one-month change is -8.3%, the three-month change is -21.4%, and the position relative to the 52-week high is -41.9%. Relative strength versus the KOSPI is 14 (on a 1-99 scale, converted from returns against the index over the past year with more weight on recent performance; higher means stronger than the market). It is stronger than roughly 14% of all stocks. Over the past three months it lagged the index by 40.0%. Chart interpretation is best done alongside trading volume and the dates on which disclosures occur.
Relative performance stock vs index · start = 100
Excess return vs index · 3M -40.00% / 6M -50.72% / 12M -64.49%
Key metrics vs sector median
Valuation
The P/E of 3.96x is below the sector median (14.79x). The P/B of 0.28x is below the sector median (0.97x). Both metrics are low versus peers, so the price is not expensive relative to earnings and assets.
Enterprise value (EV)
EV = market cap + net debt. It reflects cash and debt, so it captures the real cost of the whole business that market cap alone misses; lower multiples are cheaper relative to earnings or sales.
Profitability & financials
Return on equity (ROE) is 7.0%, above the sector average (4.0%). The operating margin is 3.4%. The debt ratio is 835.2%, so the financial structure is somewhat high.
Growth FY2025 · annual report (consolidated)
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $5.9B | $5.9B | $6.0B | +2.69% ↑ faster |
| Operating profit | $293.3M | $211.3M | $202.6M | -4.12% ↑ faster |
| Net profit | $63.5M | $41.0M | $46.2M | +12.61% ↑ faster |
| 5-year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $3.2B | $4.4B | $5.9B | $5.9B | $6.0B |
| Operating profit | $297.0M | $332.1M | $293.3M | $211.3M | $202.6M |
| Net profit | $49.3M | $201.2M | $63.5M | $41.0M | $46.2M |
| Revenue CAGR | 4-yr avg 17.18% | ||||
Revenue rose 2.7% year over year (2023 ₩8.9 trillion → 2024 ₩8.9 trillion → 2025 ₩9.1 trillion), and the three-year trend is 'mixed'. The pace of growth also quickened from the prior year. Operating profit fell 4.1% year over year. That said, the decline narrowed. Over the 5 years on record, revenue compound annual growth (CAGR) is 17.2%. The two-year revenue CAGR is 0.9%. In the most recent quarter (Q1 2026), revenue was 12.8% higher than the same period a year earlier.
Latest quarterly results Q1 2026 · vs year-ago
Technical indicators
What stands out
- The dividend yield, at 3.6%, is on the high side.
Points to watch
- The figures shown are based on the last annual report as of the writing date, so it is best to review the latest quarterly results and filings alongside them.
Recent news & events searched · sourced
- 2026-06-09UpdateClarification of rumor or media report (unconfirmed) — the company states its position that nothing has been confirmed regarding a matter raised in the marketNear-term: a rumor-stage issue that could raise volatility, so the original text needs checking. Whether a confirming disclosure follows must be tracked. Source
- 2026-06-05FilingMaterial management matter of a subsidiary — decision to dispose of shares and investment securities in another company (subsidiary tidying up a held stake)Medium-term: a signal of group-level asset restructuring. Depending on the use of the disposal proceeds (debt repayment, dividends, reinvestment), it affects net asset value. Source
- 2026-06-02IRInvestor-relations (IR) session announcement — advance notice of a session where the company directly explains results and business statusMedium-term: an opportunity to confirm business direction and dividend policy through an official company channel. A first window to check whether an official outlook exists. Source
- 2026-05-15EarningsQ1 2026 quarterly report — cumulative revenue of ₩2.4 trillion, operating profit of ₩64.6 billion, and net profit of ₩92.0 billion confirmedNear-term: revenue +12.8% but operating profit -39.4% confirms a profit slowdown. The net-profit increase warrants checking for possible non-operating factors. Source
- 2026-05-06DividendTreasury-share buyback results report — share buyback completed, confirming shareholder-return executionMedium-term: a signal of reduced free float and shareholder returns. Still, it is a cash outflow, so it must be viewed alongside financial headroom. Source
Figure cross-check computed ↔ external
Recent filings
- 2026-06-09Disclosure
- 2026-06-08OwnershipOwnership-change filing
- 2026-06-05Disclosure
- 2026-06-04Corporate governance report (amended)
- 2026-06-02Disclosure
- 2026-06-01Corporate governance report
- 2026-05-29Large-business-group status disclosure
- 2026-05-29Large-business-group status disclosure
- 2026-05-15PeriodicQuarterly report
- 2026-05-07EarningsFair-disclosure notice
- 2026-05-06TreasuryTreasury-stock acquisition decision
- 2026-04-30DividendCash/stock dividend decision (amended)
📖 Plain-language glossary — expand if you are new to this
- P/E
- How many times a year's net profit the price is worth (lower is cheaper relative to earnings). The P/E here is on trailing (last full-year) results; for companies whose earnings swing fast (memory chips and other cyclicals/high-growth), a forward P/E on this year's expected earnings is more accurate.
- P/B
- Price relative to net assets (equity). Around 1x means it trades near book value; below 1x means below book.
- P/S
- Price relative to a year's revenue — useful for growth companies with thin earnings.
- Net debt / EV
- Net debt = interest-bearing debt − cash. Negative means more cash than debt (net cash). EV (enterprise value) = market cap + net debt, closer to what it would cost to buy the whole business.
- EV/EBIT · EV/EBITDA · EV/Sales
- Enterprise value against operating profit (EBIT), EBITDA, or revenue. Unlike P/E these reflect debt and cash; lower is cheaper relative to earnings power or sales.
- FCF / FCF yield
- Free cash flow = operating cash − capex, the cash actually left over. FCF yield = FCF ÷ market cap; higher means more cash generated per unit of market value.
- Intrinsic value (DCF)
- Future free cash flow (or, for some capex-heavy but profitable names, forecast earnings) discounted to today to estimate per-share value. Because it shifts a lot with the discount-rate and growth assumptions, it is shown as a bear/base/bull range, and the basis and assumptions are disclosed in one line beneath it.
- ROE
- How much profit the company earns in a year on its equity (%). Higher means better returns on capital.
- EPS / BPS
- Earnings per share / net assets (book value) per share.
- Operating / net margin
- Profit left from the core business / final profit after tax and interest, per unit of revenue.
- Debt ratio
- Debt relative to equity (%). Higher means more reliance on borrowing (norms vary by sector).
- Current ratio
- Assets convertible to cash within a year against debt due within a year. Above 100% leaves some short-term headroom.
- Interest coverage
- How many times operating profit covers the interest owed. Below 1x means operating profit alone struggles to cover interest.
- Dividend yield / payout ratio
- The year's dividend as a % of today's price / the share of earnings paid out as dividends.
- Revenue CAGR
- Multi-year growth expressed as a single yearly average (compound annual growth rate).
- RSI (short-term signal)
- Whether recent price action is overheated or beaten down. Above 70 is overbought, below 30 oversold.
- MA20 / MA60 (moving averages)
- The 20- and 60-day average price. Price above them signals a firmer short-term trend.
- vs 52-week high
- How far below the past year's peak the price sits now (%).
All figures are for reference only; how they read varies by sector and over time.
Sources: Korea FSC market-price API (data.go.kr), OpenDART, KRX/KIND — public data only.
Bong Stocks presents public-data-based information for reference only. It is not investment advice and contains no target prices, ratings, or buy/sell recommendations. Verify independently before making any decision.