TheBorn Korea (475560) 🔎 In-depth
KOSPI · Price as of 2026-08-06 · Updated 2026-08-09
TheBorn Korea is a franchise headquarters that runs more than 20 dining brands, including Paik's Coffee, Hong Kong Banjeom, Saemaeul Sikdang, and Paik's Pizza. It earns money by supplying franchisees with ingredients, sauces, and finished products and collecting royalties, and from ingredient and sauce distribution represented by 'TBK Global B2B Sauce'; rather than operating stores directly, it makes money from its brands and supply chain (Paik's Coffee had 1,819 stores at the end of 2025). A profit-structure change disclosure in February 2026 confirmed a swing to a loss, in March the company declared a ₩500 per share dividend despite the loss, in April its corporate value-up plan set out expanding overseas B2B sauce sales and building an integrated logistics center, and the first-quarter report in May confirmed a narrowing loss. What stands out lately is the brand and franchise network centered on Paik's Coffee, a low valuation at 0.87x P/B and 0.58x P/S, a 3.5% dividend maintained even in a loss year, and the fact that much of the 2025 loss was a one-off shared-growth support payment, leaving ample room for profit to return once things normalize. On the other side, the loss continued through the first quarter, so a return to profit still needs confirmation, and recovery could slow if the dining economy stays weak.
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30-second brief
Pulled directly from the computed values below — not a separately written opinion.
What do the SourceComputedEstimateReading tags mean?
Source filings and exchange data · Computed calculated from public data · Estimate our own unverified projection · Reading drafted automatically, then rule-checked. See AI & Automation.
Core valuation metric
This stock's effective sub-sector is “Distribution & Wholesale/Retail” (Retail, Consumer Goods & Food), a type typically read first through P/E.
Retail and wholesale businesses run on relatively simple buy-and-sell margins, with sales and profits flowing steadily along with consumer demand. That makes price-to-earnings (P/E) — the share price against the profits the company earns — the natural first lens.
Price against earnings alone becomes unstable when earnings swing. Reading it together with price against assets helps gauge the downside.
That said, profitability is currently weak, so this metric is best treated as a rough reference only.
This note explains how each sector is typically valued and is educational context only, not investment advice.
At-a-glance assessment financial health · growth · profitability · valuation
- The most recent full-year net result was a loss.
- Revenue fell 22.2% year over year (3-year trend: mixed).
- Most recent quarter (Q1 2026) revenue was 28.1% lower than a year earlier.
- ROE is -7.1% (total-net basis). It is below the sector average.
- Operating margin is -6.6%.
- A sector-metric and in-depth research verdict — see “Valuation vs peers” below for the basis.
Ownership & governance As of 2025-12-31
Largest shareholder Paik Jong-won 59.5% (individual)
Controlling bloc incl. related parties 73.9%
With the controlling bloc holding 74%, control is very secure but the free float is thin.
🔎 In-depth analysis Reading
TheBorn Korea is a franchise headquarters that runs more than 20 dining brands, including Paik's Coffee, Hong Kong Banjeom, Saemaeul Sikdang, and Paik's Pizza. It earns money in two main ways. The first is the franchise business: it supplies franchisees with ingredients, sauces, and finished products, and collects the margin and royalties on them. Its largest brand, Paik's Coffee, grew to 1,819 stores at the end of 2025, up from the prior year, while some dining brands such as Saemaeul Sikdang and Hong Kong Banjeom saw store counts fall. The second is ingredient and sauce distribution, represented by 'TBK Global B2B Sauce,' and the company is growing this segment's overseas revenue as a new growth axis. Its business is formally classified as 'wholesale' precisely because of this ingredient-distribution weight. In short, rather than operating stores directly, it makes money from its brands and ingredient supply chain.
The latest close is ₩13,730 and the market capitalization is ₩203.6 billion. The price sits below its 20-day moving average (₩13,855) and below its 60-day moving average (₩15,535). 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 43.8, a neutral level. The one-month change is -9.2%, the three-month change is -32.9%, and the position relative to the 52-week high is -49.6%. Relative strength versus the KOSPI is 5 (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 4% of all stocks. Over the past three months it lagged the index by 19.3%. Chart interpretation is best done alongside trading volume and the dates on which disclosures occur.
On a 2025 consolidated basis, the operating margin was -6.6%, the net margin -4.8%, and ROE (how much is earned on equity in a year) -7.1%, so last year was a loss. That loss, however, must be judged on its character. The company disbursed about ₩43.5 billion in shared-growth support payments to franchisees and, following accounting rules, deducted a substantial portion directly from revenue. In other words, a one-off, strategic cost dragged down the year's results, not a breakdown in operations. As a result, the trailing P/E ratio (how many times one year of profit the share price represents) cannot even be computed because profit was negative, and for a stock like this, looking only at trailing metrics obscures the substance. The asset side is solid. The debt-to-equity ratio is 23%, but the current ratio of 385% gives ample short-term liquidity, with about ₩196.7 billion of current assets as of the first quarter. P/B (how many times net assets) is 0.87, below net assets, and P/S (how many times revenue) is a low 0.58 relative to sales. The dividend yield is 3.5% (₩500 per share), and the company kept the dividend even in a loss year.
Revenue went from ₩410.7 billion in 2023 to ₩464.2 billion in 2024 to ₩361.2 billion in 2025, down -22.2% last year, while operating profit swung from +₩36.0 billion in 2024 to -₩23.7 billion in 2025 and net profit from +₩31.0 billion to -₩17.4 billion. But much of the negative growth stems from the accounting treatment of deducting franchisee support payments from revenue, so it differs in nature from a pure contraction in the top line. Cumulative first-quarter 2026 revenue was ₩79.6 billion (-28.1% year on year), with an operating loss of -₩4.2 billion and a net loss of -₩2.3 billion; still a loss, but the loss is narrowing from a quarterly operating loss that had widened to -₩22.4 billion in the second quarter of 2025. The key to viewing this year is clear. Once the shared-growth support payment drops out as a one-off, the amount deducted from revenue disappears, logistics efficiency improves as the integrated logistics center comes online, and profit returns to positive as Paik's Coffee store growth and TBK Global B2B's overseas distribution add up. The forward P/E being computable this year is the result of pricing in that recovered profit, and it naturally appears in the first year of normalization right after a loss. This is a phase of climbing out of last year's loss bottom, not a phase of deteriorating results.
The disclosure flow runs from 'a trough in results' to 'shareholder returns and structural improvement.' A disclosure of a change of 30% or more in revenue and profit in February 2026 confirmed the swing to a loss, and in March the company declared a ₩500 per share cash dividend despite the loss, preserving returns to ordinary shareholders through a differentiated dividend for the major shareholder. In the April corporate value-up plan, it set out improving franchise-business profitability, expanding overseas revenue for TBK Global B2B Sauce, improving logistics efficiency by building an integrated logistics center in the first half of 2026, and pre-committed dividends (centered on direction rather than numerical targets, as it meets high-dividend company requirements). The first-quarter report in May confirmed a trend of narrowing losses.
The strengths are clear. First, the brand assets and franchise network centered on Paik's Coffee form the base of operations. Second, financial capacity is supported by a P/B of 0.87 below net assets, a low P/S of 0.58 relative to revenue, a 3.5% dividend maintained even in a loss year, and about ₩196.7 billion of current assets. Third, since a large part of the 2025 loss was a one-off shared-growth support payment, there is ample room for profit to return once this cost normalizes. There are also points to watch. The loss continued through the first quarter of 2026, so an actual return to profit still needs confirmation, and if the dining economy and consumer sentiment stay weak, the pace of recovery could slow. The conclusion is not to lean one way but a matter of conditions. If normalization of the support payments and overseas B2B and logistics efficiency translate into profit, the undervaluation relative to net assets and revenue comes into focus and it is strong; if a dining slowdown prolongs the support costs, recovery is delayed and it is weak. Reading it as a recovery-type stock, with assets and dividends cushioning the downside while watching for the timing of profit normalization, is the balanced view.
🔎 Valuation vs peers Inconclusive
We used domestically listed companies whose business substance overlaps, spanning dining and ingredient brands and food manufacturing and distribution. Because TheBorn Korea is loss-making, a P/E comparison is not possible, so we assess its position by P/B, P/S, dividend, and business character.
| Peer | P/E | P/B | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ottogi | 19.37x | 0.64x | 3.39% |
| Dongsuh | 18.06x | 1.56x | 8.58% |
| E-Mart | 16.49x | 0.19x | 1.14% |
Looking at position versus peers, food and distribution comparables trade around a P/E of 17-18x on a profitable base, whereas for TheBorn Korea a trailing P/E comparison does not hold because it is loss-making. On an asset and revenue basis, a P/B of 0.94 (around net-asset level) and P/S of 0.63 place it in discount territory versus peers. But this is a stock where the limits of trailing metrics loom large - the 2025 loss largely stems from the strategic cost of deducting franchisee shared-growth support payments from revenue, so its substance only emerges when viewed through this year's forward profit as that cost normalizes. If recovery is fast, the undervaluation relative to net assets and revenue comes into focus; if a dining slowdown prolongs the support costs, the loss can continue, so for now an inconclusive read, hinging on the timing of profit normalization, is appropriate. Rather than declaring it cheap or expensive, confirming the recovery is the prerequisite.
Price history Close · MA20 · MA60
The latest close is ₩13,730 and the market capitalization is ₩203.6 billion. The price sits below its 20-day moving average (₩13,855) and below its 60-day moving average (₩15,535). 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 43.8, a neutral level. The one-month change is -9.2%, the three-month change is -32.9%, and the position relative to the 52-week high is -49.6%. Relative strength versus the KOSPI is 5 (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 4% of all stocks. Over the past three months it lagged the index by 19.3%. 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 -19.34% / 6M -54.36% / 12M -73.47%
Key metrics Computed vs sector median
Valuation
A net loss makes the P/E an unreliable valuation gauge. The P/B of 0.86x is above the sector median (0.62x).
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 -7.1%, below the sector average (2.0%). The operating margin is -6.6%. The debt ratio is 32.9%, so the financial structure is stable.
Growth FY2025 · annual report (consolidated)
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $288.5M | $326.1M | $253.8M | -22.17% ↓ slower |
| Operating profit | $18.0M | $25.3M | -$16.6M | -165.73% ↓ slower |
| Net profit | $14.7M | $21.8M | -$12.2M | -156.12% ↓ slower |
| 5-year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | — | — | $288.5M | $326.1M | $253.8M |
| Operating profit | — | — | $18.0M | $25.3M | -$16.6M |
| Net profit | — | — | $14.7M | $21.8M | -$12.2M |
| Revenue CAGR | 2-yr avg -6.21% | ||||
Revenue fell 22.2% year over year (2023 ₩410.7 billion → 2024 ₩464.2 billion → 2025 ₩361.2 billion), and the three-year trend is 'mixed'. The rate of decline widened from the prior year. Operating profit fell 165.7% year over year. The decline widened. Over the 3 years on record, revenue compound annual growth (CAGR) is -6.2%. The two-year revenue CAGR is -6.2%. In the most recent quarter (Q1 2026), revenue was 28.1% lower than the same period a year earlier.
Latest quarterly results Source Q1 2026 · vs year-ago
Technical indicators Computed
What stands out
- The dividend yield, at 3.6%, is on the high side.
Points to watch
- The most recent full year was a loss, so it is worth checking whether profitability recovers.
- Revenue fell 22.2% year over year (3-year trend: mixed).
- The price is high versus peers, so expectations already appear priced in.
Recent news & events searched · sourced
- 2026-04-01FilingCorporate value-up plan (voluntary disclosure) - set out improving franchise-business profitability, expanding overseas revenue for TBK Global B2B Sauce, building an integrated logistics center in the first half of 2026, and shareholder-return policies including a differentiated dividend for the major shareholder and pre-committed dividends. As it meets high-dividend company requirements, it is written around direction rather than separate numerical targets.The short-term impact is limited, but it carries a directional signal in that the company officially framed logistics efficiency and overseas distribution as the key variables for a profitability recovery over the medium term. Source
- 2026-03-10DividendCash and in-kind dividend decision - ₩500 per share. Despite negative net profit for the period, the dividend was maintained, preserving returns to ordinary shareholders through a differentiated dividend for the major shareholder (2025 total dividends about ₩6.5 billion, +84.5% year on year).Showing a commitment to continue dividends even in a loss phase is positive on the short-term shareholder-return side, though the sustainability of dividends needs checking if profit does not recover. Source
- 2026-02-13EarningsChange of 30% or more in revenue or profit structure - 2025 consolidated revenue -22.2%, operating and net profit swung to losses. Deducting franchisee shared-growth support payments directly from revenue was a large part of the deterioration in top line and profit.In the short term it was a shock of confirmed losses, but once the loss's character as a one-off, strategic support cost is understood, it needs to be distinguished from an assessment of underlying operating strength. Source
- 2026-05-15EarningsFirst-quarter 2026 report - cumulative revenue ₩79.6 billion (-28.1% year on year), operating loss -₩4.2 billion, net loss -₩2.3 billion. The loss is narrowing versus a quarterly operating loss that had widened to -₩22.4 billion in the second quarter of 2025.Still a loss, but the narrowing is confirmed, and whether a quarter-by-quarter stabilization trend continues is the key metric to watch going forward. Source
Figure cross-check computed ↔ external
| Metric | Computed | External | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 dividend payout ratio | payout_ratio -37.6% | 25.0% | Confirmed | link |
| 2025 consolidated profit-structure change | revenue YoY -22.2%, operating profit -237, net profit -174 | DART 30% | Confirmed | link |
| Cumulative first-quarter 2026 operating loss | -42, -23, revenue 796 | DART 2026 1 -42 | Confirmed | link |
Recent filings Source
- 2026-05-29Corporate governance report
- 2026-05-15PeriodicQuarterly report
- 2026-04-01Disclosure
- 2026-03-31Disclosure
- 2026-03-31Shareholders' meeting notice
- 2026-03-23PeriodicAnnual business report
- 2026-03-19Audit report
- 2026-03-10Shareholders' meeting notice
- 2026-03-10DividendCash/stock dividend decision
- 2026-03-10Shareholders' meeting notice
- 2026-03-10DividendCash/stock dividend decision
- 2026-02-13EarningsEarnings filing
📖 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.