Korea Zinc recorded its first quarterly net loss in its 50-year history, while Young Poong-MBK Partners, embroiled in a management dispute with Chairman Choi Yoon-beom, criticized it as "the result of questionable investments initiated under Chairman Choi’s leadership since 2022."
According to the financial investment industry on the 25th, Korea Zinc's consolidated net loss for the fourth quarter of last year was 245.7 billion won. This marks the first quarterly deficit since the company was founded in 1974.
Young Poong-MBK pointed out, "While there was also an impact from the foreign exchange losses due to the rise in the dollar value against the won, the increased expense from high-interest short-term borrowings raised for a large-scale share buyback and various investment failures, including the One Asia Fund, had a significant impact."
Notably, regarding the 500 billion won investment that Korea Zinc made in the One Asia private equity fund, the impairment loss last year amounted to 157.5 billion won, which is a 2.6-fold increase compared to the previous year. One Asia is an investment company established by CEO Ji Chang-bae, a middle school classmate of Chairman Choi.
A Young Poong-MBK official said, "The issue is that these loss factors are not one-time occurrences,” and added, “Due to the financial borrowing of over 2 trillion won raised for the share buyback, we must bear the same scale of interest expense every quarter. It seems that the current state of various investments made indiscriminately under the pretext of new business or managing excess funds has not yet been fully reflected."
Young Poong-MBK particularly claimed that in the case of Pedal Point, which holds Ignio Holdings, a sustained net loss has persisted for several years, but the impairment recognition has not yet been reflected.
He noted that "a reorganization of the various investments and new businesses pushed indiscriminately under Chairman Choi's regime is needed," adding, "In this situation, it is disappointing to see Korea Zinc being held hostage by Chairman Choi's personal desire for management control, causing it to lose competitiveness."