DAOL Investment & Securities noted on the 20th that Hanatour is expected to improve its performance in the latter half of the year, coinciding with the long holiday period, although it will take some time for travel sentiment to fully recover. The target stock price has been revised downward from 80,000 won to 65,000 won, while the investment opinion remains "buy."
Hanatour is projected to record sales of 627.3 billion won and an operating profit of 57.8 billion won this year, representing increases of 1.7% and 13.5%, respectively, compared to the previous year. However, the first quarter results are disappointing. In the first quarter, the gross merchandise volume (GMV) of package travel products was 580.5 billion won, a decrease of 5.4% from the previous year. The cumulative number of package travelers in April also decreased by 5.9% to 700,000 due to political situations and aircraft accidents since the end of last year, which have dampened travel sentiment.
Hanatour plans to promote performance improvement alongside dividend expansion and treasury stock buybacks to bolster its stock price. The plan is to utilize half of the consolidated net profit from this year until 2027 as a resource for shareholder returns. The consolidated dividend payout ratio is expected to be between 30% and 40%, and the treasury stock buyback will be executed at a level of 10% to 20%.
Kim Hye-young, a researcher at DAOL Investment & Securities, said, "Travel sentiment is expected to recover starting in the second half of the year due to the vacation season in the third quarter and the October Chuseok long holiday," and added, "This year's performance target is somewhat aggressive, and sales growth and expense control must be achieved."
He added, "The growth of premium packages and mingling tours, as well as cost reductions through the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), are necessary."