PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩0 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close
Paper Korea has shown two consecutive quarters of improving operating and net profit in early 2026, but ownership uncertainty persists after majority shareholder UAMCO's stake sale collapsed in 2025.
Q2 2026 revenue reached KRW 80.3bn with operating profit of KRW 5.45bn and owner net profit of KRW 2.61bn, the clearest improvement in the recent quarterly window
2025 annual revenue fell to KRW 266.7bn, continuing a multi-year decline from 2022, with operating loss of KRW 5.28bn marking a swing into the red
UAMCO's planned sale of its 86.6% stake plus convertible bonds to EG Construction fell through in May 2025 over disputes on Ocean City development profit settlement
The industrial paper (kraft paper) segment maintains the No.1 domestic market share and benefits from rising demand for eco-friendly materials
The newsprint segment continues to face structural demand decline from digital media, though competitor facility closures have partly restored supply-demand balance
Paper Korea was established in 1944 and listed on the KOSPI in 1976, making it one of the first-generation paper manufacturers in Korea, headquartered in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province.
Its business is split into two main pillars: industrial paper and newsprint, with kraft paper and other industrial paper produced at the Gunsan plant and newsprint produced at the Natura Paper plant in Cheongju.
The industrial paper segment maintains the No.1 domestic market share in kraft paper and has been expanding production and sales in response to growing demand for eco-friendly packaging materials such as corrugated liner, kraft paper, and impregnated paper.
The newsprint segment, supplying major newspapers such as Chosun Ilbo, Dong-A Ilbo, and Maeil Business Newspaper, remains a traditional business but faces long-term structural demand decline from the spread of digital media.
The company holds eight subsidiaries, including Natura Media, which handles specialty paper, and several D'Ocean City entities responsible for real estate development.
Notably, the D'Ocean City mixed-use development project on the former Jochon-dong factory site is a factor affecting the company's asset value separate from its core paper business.
The largest shareholder is UAMCO Enterprise Rebound 7th Corporate Financial Stability Private Equity Fund, which has held roughly 86.6% of shares and controlled management since the company's 2017 turnaround.
Within its industry, the company ranks at the top in terms of scale but lower in activity and profitability metrics.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩66.4B | -₩2.4B | −3.6% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩65.1B | -₩3.2B | −4.9% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩68.8B | -₩200M | −0.3% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩67.2B | ₩1.2B | 1.8% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩80.3B | ₩5.5B | 6.8% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩410B | ₩25.8B | -₩1.8B | 6.3% | −3.0% | 714.5% |
| 2023 | ₩362.1B | ₩31.2B | ₩15.2B | 8.6% | 5.2% | 66.6% |
| 2024 | ₩290.2B | ₩2B | -₩9.7B | 0.7% | −3.4% | 72.7% |
| 2025 | ₩266.7B | -₩5.3B | -₩19.3B | −2.0% | −7.3% | 77.9% |
Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-08-23
According to the confirmed financials, Paper Korea's annual revenue contracted for four consecutive years, from KRW 409.96bn in 2022 to KRW 362.07bn in 2023, KRW 290.18bn in 2024, and KRW 266.67bn in 2025.
Operating profit peaked at KRW 25.84bn in 2022 and KRW 31.16bn in 2023 before plunging to KRW 2.04bn in 2024 and swinging to an operating loss of KRW 5.28bn in 2025.
Owner net profit turned positive at KRW 15.23bn in 2023 but reversed into losses of KRW 9.68bn in 2024 and KRW 19.33bn in 2025, with losses widening for two straight years.
Total equity jumped from KRW 61.61bn in 2022 (with a debt ratio of 714.5%) to KRW 295.15bn in 2023, reflecting a large capital infusion through a rights offering and perpetual convertible bonds.
Equity then declined to KRW 283.76bn in 2024 and KRW 263.73bn in 2025 as accumulated losses eroded the capital base, while the debt ratio rose again from 66.6% in 2023 to 77.9% in 2025.
On a quarterly basis, operating losses persisted from Q2 to Q4 2025 at KRW -2.37bn, KRW -3.17bn, and KRW -0.19bn, before turning to a KRW 1.24bn operating profit in Q1 2026 and expanding further to KRW 5.45bn in Q2 2026.
Owner net profit followed a similar path, narrowing losses to KRW -0.66bn in Q1 2026 before turning positive at KRW 2.61bn in Q2 2026, marking the clearest improvement within the recent four-quarter window.
FnGuide noted that on a year-on-year, consolidated basis in Q1 2026, revenue rose 1.4%, operating profit rose 173.8%, and the net loss narrowed 64.6%, with profitability improving in the paper segment due to rising demand for eco-friendly materials and eased cost pressure from lower raw material prices.
Korea's newsprint and industrial paper industry faces structural demand contraction as newspaper subscriptions decline and online news consumption expands amid the spread of digital media.
FnGuide has explained that the paper segment saw revenue decline due to shrinking newsprint demand from the development of digital media and rising raw material cost burden, while separately noting that the newsprint market has restored supply-demand balance and maintained a stable market structure following facility closures.
The industrial and kraft paper market, in contrast, is riding growing demand for eco-friendly packaging, a trend that favors Paper Korea, which produces kraft paper and other industrial paper at its Gunsan plant and holds the No.1 domestic market share in kraft paper.
In terms of industry standing, based on 2024 revenue, Paper Korea ranks 22nd, Jeonju Paper ranks 11th, and Daehan Paper ranks 33rd within the newsprint manufacturing industry, with Paper Korea scoring 24 (lower tier) in activity, 18 (lower tier) in profitability, 84 (upper tier) in stability, 45 (mid tier) in growth, and 99 (top tier) in scale.
This suggests the company ranks near the top in capital scale and stability but lags peers in revenue turnover and profitability.
Competitor Jeonju Paper is regarded as further ahead in business diversification, having converted much of its newsprint equipment to produce corrugated liner paper and secured roughly one million tons of annual production capacity.
Downstream demand from delivery, logistics, and packaging remains resilient amid e-commerce growth, which supports relative growth potential in the industrial paper segment.
The company's near-term outlook splits into two tracks. On the operating side, two consecutive quarters of improving operating and net profit in early 2026 point to eased cost pressure from lower raw material prices and rising demand for eco-friendly materials as the key drivers of the profitability recovery.
The newsprint segment is also seeing more stable supply-demand conditions following competitor facility closures, suggesting a near-term improvement in pricing and supply conditions even amid the longer-term structural decline. On the ownership side, however, uncertainty remains.
In October 2024, the largest shareholder, UAMCO Enterprise Rebound 7th Corporate Financial Stability Private Equity Fund, signed a memorandum of understanding to sell its stake to EG Construction, with the deal covering 154,140,336 common shares and KRW 108.2bn in convertible bonds, but in May 2025 UAMCO abandoned the contract after seven months of negotiations with EG Construction, reportedly because differing interpretations of the profit-settlement method under a 2011 factory relocation and urban development agreement with Gunsan City became the central sticking point during due diligence.
No public progress has since been confirmed on a new buyer search or a renewed sale attempt, leaving the direction of the largest shareholder's stake an open question.
The D'Ocean City real estate project has seen substantial pre-sales completed, but the unresolved profit-settlement issue for remaining blocks was a key obstacle in the prior sale talks, and how this issue is resolved could affect both the company's asset valuation and any future ownership change.
Paper Korea's price-to-book ratio has tended to trade at a discount to net asset value, a pattern that can be interpreted as reflecting repeated net losses eroding equity combined with ownership uncertainty, setting it apart from more stable peers in the same industry.
On the earnings side, after a profitable 2023 the company swung back to losses in 2024 and 2025, and market attention now centers on whether the improvement confirmed over two consecutive quarters in 2026 can be sustained.
No dividend has recently been paid, so dividend-related metrics are not meaningfully formed for this stock, meaning event-driven factors such as business recovery and ownership change may weigh more heavily on the shares than capital-return considerations.
Compared with other paper manufacturers, the company ranks in the upper tier on stability metrics but in the lower tier on profitability and activity metrics, a relative industry positioning worth bearing in mind when interpreting its valuation.
PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are all calculated in-house (the same method as Naver and Toss) · Dividend yield = cash dividend per share from DART filings (supplemented by KRX) ÷ current price · As of 2026-08-23
Operating profit reached KRW 1.24bn in Q1 2026 and KRW 5.45bn in Q2 2026, with owner net profit turning positive at KRW 2.61bn in Q2, the first profitable quarter within the recent four-quarter window.
This appears driven by both eased cost pressure from lower raw material prices and rising demand for eco-friendly materials. Whether this trend continues into the second half will be a key point to watch in coming quarters.
The industrial paper segment maintains the No.1 domestic market share in kraft paper and is positioned to benefit from the shift toward eco-friendly packaging materials and rising packaging demand driven by e-commerce growth. This also offers a diversification effect that can partly offset the structural decline in newsprint.
The D'Ocean City mixed-use development on the former Jochon-dong factory site has already seen many blocks sold, and profit from remaining plots could add further to the company's asset value.
However, since disagreement with Gunsan City over how to settle this development profit was the central reason the prior sale negotiations collapsed, how this issue is resolved will be a key variable determining whether this asset value is realized.
Newsprint demand is on a long-term declining trend amid the spread of digital media, and annual revenue fell for four consecutive years from KRW 409.96bn in 2022 to KRW 266.67bn in 2025.
Even if competitor facility closures improve near-term supply-demand conditions, reversing the structural decline in end demand itself remains a fundamental constraint.
Negotiations between UAMCO and EG Construction over the stake sale proceeded for seven months after the October 2024 memorandum of understanding but ultimately collapsed in May 2025.
With the underlying dispute over D'Ocean City development profit settlement still unresolved, it remains uncertain whether a new buyer will emerge or whether UAMCO will relaunch a sale process. It is also worth noting the stock's history of sensitive reactions to ownership-related disclosures.
After a profit of KRW 15.23bn in 2023, losses widened for two straight years to KRW -9.68bn in 2024 and KRW -19.33bn in 2025, and total equity declined from KRW 295.15bn in 2023 to KRW 263.73bn in 2025 over the same period.
The debt ratio also rose again from 66.6% in 2023 to 77.9% in 2025, making it important to watch whether the recent quarterly profit improvement settles into a stable trajectory.
Fluctuations in the prices of key raw materials such as waste paper and pulp directly affect the cost structure inherent to the paper industry.
Since the profitability improvement seen in Q1-Q2 2026 appears to rely significantly on the effect of lower raw material prices, a renewed rise in raw material costs could slow this improvement again.
Because the largest shareholder, a private equity fund managed by UAMCO, holds an 86.6% stake, multiple scenarios remain open, including a renewed sale attempt, the emergence of a new buyer, or continued stalemate.
Whichever path unfolds, disclosures related to a change in control could significantly affect both the share price and corporate strategy.
The D'Ocean City former-factory-site development is subject to a 2011 agreement with Gunsan City under which the city recovers 51% of any excess profit beyond relocation costs.
Since differing interpretations of this settlement method were the central cause of the prior sale negotiation's collapse, this legal and financial uncertainty could continue to affect the realization of asset value going forward.
The 2026 Q3 report is expected around this time, and it will be important to check whether the operating and net profit improvement seen in Q1-Q2 continues into Q3.
Should any disclosure emerge regarding UAMCO relaunching a stake sale or a new prospective buyer, it will be necessary to check the direction and terms of any potential ownership change.
If updates on the sale progress of remaining D'Ocean City plots or the outcome of profit-settlement discussions with Gunsan City are disclosed, their impact on real estate asset value and resolution of the governance issue should be reviewed.
It is necessary to continuously monitor trends in raw material (waste paper, pulp) prices and their impact on cost burden and margins in the industrial and newsprint paper segments.
Paper Korea has moved through a difficult stretch of declining revenue and widening losses through 2025, but has shown signs of a rebound with two consecutive quarters of improving operating and net profit in Q1-Q2 2026.
This improvement stems from a combination of rising demand for eco-friendly materials and eased cost pressure from lower raw material prices, supported by the company's market position in the industrial paper (kraft paper) segment.
However, the structural decline in newsprint demand is still ongoing, and even after a large capital infusion in 2023, continued losses in 2024-2025 have led to a renewed deterioration in the equity base and debt ratio.
On top of this, ownership-related uncertainty remains unresolved after the largest shareholder UAMCO's planned stake sale collapsed in 2025 over the D'Ocean City development profit-settlement dispute.
Assessing this stock therefore requires separately tracking two distinct threads: the recovery in the core business, and the separate governance and real estate settlement issues.
Upcoming quarterly results and any future disclosures on the ownership stake or real estate settlement will be important clues to the direction of both threads.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
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