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
Hantop is restructuring its share base through a 5-for-1 reverse split and a large planned on-market purchase by its controlling shareholder, even as an antitrust fine coincided with a sizable net loss in the second quarter of 2026.
A 5-for-1 reverse stock split was completed in June 2026, reducing total shares outstanding from about 32.3 million to about 6.46 million.
In May 2026, the Korea Fair Trade Commission fined Hantop roughly KRW 24.3 billion for flour price and volume collusion, equal to 51.33% of its shareholders' equity at the end of 2025.
Controlling shareholder Ryu Ji-hoon disclosed a plan to purchase 2 million common shares on the open market between September 11 and October 10, 2026.
Market capitalization fell below the KOSDAQ KRW 20 billion administrative-designation threshold in early August 2026, putting the 30-consecutive-trading-day count under watch.
Annual revenue declined for four consecutive years from 2022 through 2025, and both operating and net losses widened again in the first two quarters of 2026.
Founded in 1959, Hantop is a flour milling and animal feed company operating a headquarters-cum-flour mill in Busan and a separate feed plant in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province.
Its milling division produces strong, medium, and weak flour under the 'Sunflower' brand, supplying noodle, confectionery, and bakery processors, with all wheat imported from the United States, Canada, and Australia.
The feed division blends corn, wheat bran, soybean meal, and other inputs into livestock feed marketed under the Peak-N, Almaek, and Alsaem brands.
Domestic flour milling is an oligopoly of seven companies in which Hantop holds roughly a 4% share, while the feed market is closer to a fully competitive field with about 60 rival producers.
Both businesses depend entirely on imported raw materials, making margins sensitive to international grain prices and the won-dollar exchange rate, though low price elasticity for these staple products supports relatively stable supply conditions.
The company has been expanding into adjacent areas such as bakery/confectionery, wholesale-retail, and agricultural product processing. Through consolidated subsidiaries, it also carries some exposure to non-core areas including medical devices and real estate investment.
Controlling shareholder Ryu Ji-hoon, a third-generation member of the founding family, has previously been involved in ownership succession and governance disputes.
| Quarter | Revenue | Operating profit | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025Q2 | ₩21.6B | ₩900M | 4.3% |
| 2025Q3 | ₩20.7B | ₩800M | 3.7% |
| 2025Q4 | ₩19.8B | ₩500M | 2.8% |
| 2026Q1 | ₩19.8B | -₩900M | −4.5% |
| 2026Q2 | ₩18.3B | -₩1.2B | −6.8% |
| Year | Revenue | Operating profit | Net income (parent) | Op. margin | ROE | Debt-to-equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | ₩99.1B | ₩300M | -₩4.7B | 0.3% | −9.5% | 195.3% |
| 2023 | ₩94.8B | ₩900M | -₩10.3B | 1.0% | −21.3% | 194.9% |
| 2024 | ₩84.9B | ₩3.7B | -₩5.4B | 4.4% | −11.6% | 203.0% |
| 2025 | ₩82.4B | ₩2.9B | ₩2.1B | 3.5% | 4.4% | 192.3% |
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
Annual revenue declined for four straight years, from KRW 99.1 billion in 2022 to KRW 94.8 billion in 2023, KRW 84.9 billion in 2024, and KRW 82.4 billion in 2025. The operating margin bottomed at 0.3% in 2022 and 1.0% in 2023 before improving to 4.4% in 2024 and 3.5% in 2025, suggesting some cost discipline took hold.
Net income attributable to owners swung from losses of KRW 4.7 billion in 2022, KRW 10.3 billion in 2023, and KRW 5.4 billion in 2024 to a profit of KRW 2.1 billion in 2025.
Operating cash flow also fluctuated, from -KRW 11.5 billion in 2022 to KRW 8.7 billion in 2023, essentially breakeven in 2024, and KRW 2.4 billion in 2025.
Quarterly trends, however, show revenue continuing to slide: KRW 21.6 billion with a KRW 0.9 billion operating profit and KRW 1.7 billion net profit in the second quarter of 2025, followed by KRW 20.7 billion revenue with a KRW 0.7 billion net loss in the third quarter, and KRW 19.8 billion revenue with a KRW 0.4 billion net profit in the fourth quarter.
In 2026, first-quarter revenue fell to KRW 19.8 billion with an operating loss of KRW 0.9 billion and a net loss of KRW 2.8 billion, and second-quarter revenue dropped further to KRW 18.3 billion with an operating loss of KRW 1.2 billion, while the net loss ballooned to KRW 26.9 billion.
That single-quarter loss equals more than half of the owners' equity of roughly KRW 47.6 billion recorded at the end of 2025, and it fell in the same quarter as the KFTC's May 20, 2026 announcement of a roughly KRW 24.3 billion fine for flour collusion, pointing to a timing overlap between the two events, though the specific accounting treatment of the fine within the quarter has not been separately disclosed.
The debt ratio held in a relatively narrow 192%-203% band from 2022 through 2025, indicating leverage itself stayed fairly stable even as profitability swung.
The domestic B2B flour market is an oligopoly in which seven companies—Daehan Flour Mills, CJ CheilJedang, Sajo Dongaone, Samyang, Daesun Flour, Samhwa Flour, and Hantop—together hold an 87.7% market share.
These seven were found to have colluded on supply prices and volumes to major customers for roughly six years, from November 2019 to October 2025, and in May 2026 the Korea Fair Trade Commission imposed a combined fine of KRW 671 billion, of which Hantop's share was about KRW 24.3 billion.
During the collusion period, flour selling prices rose by as much as 74% by September 2022 compared with late 2019, and during the investigation and deliberation process the industry cut factory-gate prices by up to 8.2% in the first quarter of this year.
Along with the fine, the FTC ordered an independent price re-determination back to pre-collusion competitive levels and imposed internal-control measures such as new disciplinary rules for collusion participants.
This points to a potentially more transparent industry pricing structure going forward, but legal risk has not fully cleared given that fines related to collusion can reach up to 20% of relevant revenue.
The feed industry, by contrast, is closer to a fully competitive market with roughly 60 rival producers, low entry barriers, and limited product differentiation, resulting in persistent price competition.
Because both businesses depend entirely on imported wheat, corn, and related inputs, international grain prices and currency movements remain the key variables governing profitability across the sector.
The company completed its 5-for-1 reverse stock split in June 2026 and resumed trading on July 10 with the consolidated shares listed, a step aimed at maintaining an appropriate float and enhancing corporate value.
On August 12, the controlling shareholder disclosed a plan to purchase 2 million common shares on the open market between September 11 and October 10, 2026; if fully executed, this would raise the controlling shareholder's stake from about 37.5% to about 68.4%.
At the same extraordinary shareholders' meeting, the company also approved a plan to dispose of its treasury shares (equivalent to roughly 260,000 shares post-split) to raise internal operating funds, leaving room for execution before the next regular shareholders' meeting.
Because market capitalization fell below the KOSDAQ administrative-designation threshold of KRW 20 billion in early August, whether this shortfall persists for 30 consecutive trading days remains a key variable for continued listing status.
Under the FTC's price re-determination order, the company must reset flour prices to pre-collusion competitive levels, consult with the FTC, and report within a set period, implying further changes to its pricing policy ahead.
It is also worth noting that the disclosed fine figure is based on the FTC's press release and could change once the final written ruling is received and confirmed, as the company itself has flagged.
Whether these combined measures translate into actual earnings improvement will need to be confirmed progressively through upcoming quarterly results and disclosures.
Because of the recent reverse stock split, different data providers appear to use different reference points, leading to divergent readings on whether the shares trade at a premium or a discount to net asset (book) value depending on the source.
This suggests that the change in share count following the consolidation may not yet be fully reflected across every data system, which is worth noting when comparing valuation figures for this stock across different platforms.
There has been no dividend payment history in recent years, which limits any yield-based approach.
On the earnings side, the swing to a full-year net profit in 2025 reversed into a large net loss in the first half of 2026, meaning the direction of profitability itself has been unstable over the most recent four quarters.
This earnings volatility is a factor that complicates any assessment of where the market is valuing the shares relative to book value.
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
Controlling shareholder Ryu Ji-hoon disclosed a plan to purchase 2 million common shares on the open market between September 11 and October 10, 2026, a volume comparable to his current holdings. If executed as planned, his stake would rise sharply from about 37.5% to about 68.4%.
The company stated the purchase was prompted by a view that the share price had fallen excessively relative to intrinsic value.
The operating margin bottomed at 0.3% in 2022 and 1.0% in 2023 before improving to 4.4% in 2024 and 3.5% in 2025. Margin recovery even as revenue declined points to some room for cost and expense management improvement.
This improvement, however, reversed into an operating loss in the first half of 2026, a fact that needs to be weighed alongside the earlier trend.
Both flour and animal feed are staple goods with low price elasticity of demand, which acts as a stabilizing factor against a sharp collapse in the revenue base.
The company has been expanding into bakery/confectionery, wholesale-retail, and agricultural product processing, and through consolidated subsidiaries it also carries some exposure to non-core areas such as medical devices and real estate, reducing reliance on a single business line.
In May 2026 the Korea Fair Trade Commission fined Hantop roughly KRW 24.3 billion for flour collusion, equal to 51.33% of its shareholders' equity at the end of 2025.
Combined with an order to re-determine prices back to pre-collusion competitive levels, further adjustments to future supply pricing and profitability appear unavoidable. The amount could still change once the final written ruling is received.
Annual revenue fell for four consecutive years, from KRW 99.1 billion in 2022 to KRW 82.4 billion in 2025, and operating losses widened again to KRW 0.9 billion and KRW 1.2 billion in the first and second quarters of 2026, respectively.
Net income also reversed from a 2025 profit into a large net loss in the first half of 2026, leaving earnings predictability low.
In early August 2026, market capitalization fell below the KOSDAQ administrative-designation threshold of KRW 20 billion, and if this persists for 30 consecutive trading days, the company could be designated as an administrative-issue stock.
While the controlling shareholder's on-market purchase plan exists, the outcome depends on actual execution and scale, and with the float reduced by the reverse split, trading liquidity itself may also be constrained.
In January 2026, the KFTC referred seven companies and 14 executives, including Hantop's, to prosecutors at their request, and in May it imposed corrective orders along with internal-control obligations such as new disciplinary rules for collusion participants.
The confirmed fine amount could still change before the final written ruling is received, and the possibility of further legal disputes, including civil damage claims, cannot be ruled out.
Wheat for flour milling and corn, wheat bran, and soybean meal for feed are entirely imported, directly exposing margins to international grain prices and currency swings.
Even during the collusion period, the industry was found to have an asymmetric pattern of raising prices quickly when global grain prices rose but lowering them slowly when prices fell, making it a key question how cost changes will be reflected as the price re-determination order is implemented.
In early August 2026, market capitalization fell below the KOSDAQ administrative-issue threshold of KRW 20 billion, and under rules effective from July, a 30-consecutive-trading-day shortfall could trigger administrative-issue designation.
With shares outstanding already reduced by the reverse split, further concentration of ownership if the controlling shareholder's stake rises could shrink the free float further and reduce trading liquidity.
Verify the actual execution and scale of the controlling shareholder's disclosed plan to purchase 2 million common shares on the open market; full execution would sharply raise the ownership stake.
Check whether the market-cap shortfall below KRW 20 billion, which began in early August, continues for 30 consecutive trading days; if so, KOSDAQ administrative-issue designation risk could materialize.
Review the third-quarter 2026 earnings disclosure for whether the operating loss narrows and whether any further one-off impact related to the antitrust fine is reflected.
Confirm whether and when the treasury shares (roughly 260,000 post-split) approved for disposal at the extraordinary shareholders' meeting are actually disposed of; the timing and method of any board resolution could affect shareholder value.
Hantop faces structural challenges in its flour and feed businesses, including four straight years of revenue decline and a return to operating losses in the first half of 2026, compounded by a large one-off burden from the roughly KRW 24.3 billion flour collusion fine that coincided in timing with a sizable net loss in the second quarter of 2026.
At the same time, the company is undertaking notable changes to its share structure and governance, having completed a 5-for-1 reverse stock split and disclosed a plan for the controlling shareholder to substantially increase his stake through on-market purchases.
Market capitalization has remained below the KOSDAQ administrative-issue threshold, making the related listing-maintenance timeline worth watching.
Factors supporting a more constructive view include the controlling shareholder's demonstrated intent to increase ownership, the margin recovery seen in 2024-2025, and the demand stability underpinning staple goods; factors weighing against it include collusion-related legal and financial burdens, the ongoing revenue decline, and administrative-designation risk.
Valuation readings currently diverge across data providers following the recent share consolidation, which should be kept in mind when comparing figures from different sources.
Key items to confirm going forward are the actual execution of the controlling shareholder's purchase plan, whether market capitalization recovers above the threshold, and whether further collusion-related costs surface in third-quarter results.
Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04
This content is AI analysis of market data and web search results, provided for information only. It is not a solicitation or recommendation to invest. Investment decisions and their consequences are the investor's own responsibility. Data may be delayed or contain errors.