Seobu T&D

Seobu T&D began as a freight truck terminal operator in 1979, listed on KOSDAQ in 1995, and has since grown into a comprehensive real estate developer centered on tourist hotel operations.

Its flagship property, Seoul Dragon City in Yongsan, Seoul, was completed in 2017 with an investment of KRW 477.6 billion, comprising three 5-star hotel towers with a total floor area of 18.46 million square meters, holding 1,700 rooms that Seobu T&D develops and operates while Accor Hotels manages them under contract.

The complex houses four Accor hotel brands together with a foreigner-only casino, allowing it to serve both leisure tourism and MICE demand. As of 1Q25, revenue mix was 74.47% tourist hotel, 19.32% shopping mall, and 3.37% oil sales, meaning the hotel segment accounts for roughly three-quarters of revenue.

The second pillar, the Square One shopping mall in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, posted 2024 revenue of KRW 29.6 billion and operating profit of KRW 17.3 billion with 197 tenants at year-end, generating stable rental income anchored in local commercial demand.

The company also holds a 50% stake in Shinhan Seobu T&D REIT, which owns assets including the Grand Mercure at Dragon City, Incheon Square One, and Nine Tree Dongdaemun, combining a REIT structure with dividend-oriented asset monetization.

The third growth pillar is real estate development, centered on the Najin Sangga buildings 12 and 13 in Yongsan and the former Seobu Truck Terminal site in Sinjeong-dong, Yangcheon-gu.

The Yongsan District Office approved Seobu T&D's building permit for the Najin Sangga development, which is planned as an 8-basement, 27-story structure with a total floor area of about 74,841 square meters.

The Sinjeong-dong site spans roughly 790,000 square meters, the largest undeveloped commercial plot within Seoul, while the logistics facility and oil sales businesses, though small in revenue share, continue to generate cash flow ahead of the development's start.

Seobu T&D's consolidated revenue rose for four consecutive years, from KRW 135.3 billion in 2022 to KRW 169.2 billion in 2023, KRW 187.5 billion in 2024, and KRW 248.3 billion in 2025.

Operating profit over the same period grew from KRW 19.2 billion to KRW 37.2 billion, KRW 48.0 billion, and KRW 70.3 billion, while the operating margin improved every year from 14.2% to 22.0%, 25.6%, and 28.3%, reflecting clear economies of scale.

Net income attributable to owners jumped from KRW 16.7 billion in 2022 to KRW 138.3 billion in 2023, fell to KRW 34.4 billion in 2024, and rose again to KRW 79.1 billion in 2025, a pattern largely driven by non-operating items such as the year-end property revaluation, which vary from year to year.

Indeed, the KRW 55.9 billion in net income attributable to owners recorded in 4Q25 included an KRW 80.9 billion revaluation gain from the year-end asset revaluation exercise.

On a quarterly basis, 2Q25 posted revenue of KRW 54.6 billion and operating profit of KRW 11.2 billion but a net loss of KRW 5.9 billion attributable to owners, while 3Q25 (revenue KRW 66.9 billion, operating profit KRW 21.3 billion, net income KRW 32.4 billion) and 4Q25 (revenue KRW 80.7 billion, operating profit KRW 24.9 billion, net income KRW 55.9 billion) saw net income surge.

Subsequently, 1Q26 (revenue KRW 66.1 billion, operating profit KRW 17.8 billion, net income KRW 3.9 billion) and 2Q26 (revenue KRW 87.7 billion, operating profit KRW 18.3 billion, net income KRW 6.0 billion) saw revenue and operating profit rise clearly year-on-year, though net income growth was comparatively limited.

According to Hana Securities, 2Q26 revenue rose 61% year-on-year to KRW 87.7 billion and operating profit rose 63% to KRW 18.3 billion, in line with the consensus of KRW 19.9 billion, though roughly KRW 8.0 billion in property tax and about KRW 1.5 billion in one-off personnel costs tied to the Sinjeong-dong development weighed on the bottom line.

By segment, 2Q hotel revenue and operating profit came to KRW 50.4 billion and KRW 17.1 billion respectively, with the hotel business leading overall earnings improvement.

Over the trailing four quarters (3Q25 through 2Q26), combined net income attributable to owners totaled KRW 98.2 billion, a pace that already exceeds the full-year 2025 result.

Korea's hotel and leisure sector has continued to recover since the COVID-19 pandemic, entering a phase of expanding inbound foreign demand.

The spread of Korean culture and the resumption of visa-free group tourism from China boosted room and F&B revenue, and casino operations along with a new brand addition contributed to improved results, while growth in visitors from the Americas and Europe and sustained preference for visiting Korea among Greater China, Asia, and the Middle East have also supported the backdrop.

With Seoul's five-star hotel supply still assessed as below pre-pandemic levels, NH Investment & Securities noted that Seobu T&D's 2025 hotel occupancy stood at 70% and ADR at around KRW 200,000, somewhat below the Seoul hotel average.

KB Securities projected that Seoul Dragon City's occupancy in 4Q25 was in the mid-70% range but could expand toward the 80% average seen at comparable Seoul hotels.

In terms of competitive landscape, domestic hotel and leisure names are diversified, led by Hotel Shilla and including Seobu T&D, GS Retail's Parnas Hotel unit, Lotte Tour Development's Dream Tower, Kangwon Land, Ananti, Hanjin Kal's Grand Hyatt Incheon, Paradise's Paradise City and Busan properties, and Mona Yongpyong's Yongpyong Resort, and Seobu T&D differentiates itself by combining a single large hotel complex with a casino.

It also holds large idle land parcels in Yongsan and Sinjeong-dong, giving it a real estate developer character distinct from pure hotel operators.

The company's near-term earnings variable is the trajectory of hotel occupancy and room rates, while the medium- to long-term variable is the construction and pre-sale schedule for the Najin Sangga and Sinjeong-dong developments.

Seobu T&D received a building permit for the Najin Sangga development from the Yongsan District Office in May 2026, which is planned as an 8-basement, 27-story structure spanning about 74,841 square meters comprising office, residential-office, retail, and sports facilities.

NH Investment & Securities stated that construction on Najin Sangga buildings 12 and 13 is expected to begin around October 2026, and a key point to watch is whether pre-sales of the residential-office units begin simultaneously with groundbreaking, which would allow immediate recognition of pre-sale revenue.

The former Seobu Truck Terminal site in Sinjeong-dong is planned as a roughly 790,000-square-meter urban advanced logistics complex including residential units, a shopping mall, and warehouse facilities, and the company has set a target of obtaining a building permit in 2026, breaking ground in 2027, and completing the project by 2031.

Hana Securities stated on August 18, 2026 that it maintains a Buy rating and a target price of KRW 18,000 on Seobu T&D, forecasting continued record earnings in the second half driven by strong hotel-segment growth from rising foreign arrivals and increasingly visible development profits from Yongsan and Sinjeong-dong.

However, since the Sinjeong-dong site's designation as a pilot zone in 2016, the project has a history of delays due to political and administrative factors, leaving the timing of groundbreaking and permitting as a variable requiring further confirmation.