KOSPIFood & Beverage145990

Samyang

₩46,250▲ 0.54%2026-10-02 close

Market Cap

₩477.5B

Turnover

₩200M

Volume

3,547 shares

Shares out.

10.3M

PER

—

PBR

0.3×

EPS

-₩28,263

Dividend Yield

3.76%

PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩1,750 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close

Report overview

Antitrust Overhang Eases, Earnings Normalization in Focus

Samyang Corp is entering an earnings-normalization phase after a large portion of its antitrust-related fine burden was recently resolved.

1
On August 31, 2026, the Korea Fair Trade Commission decided to fully exempt Samyang from the KRW 210.3 billion fine related to the starch/starch-sugar price-fixing case.
2
The 2025 consolidated net loss attributable to owners was KRW 302.4 billion, largely reflecting provisions booked in advance for expected antitrust fines.
3
Net income attributable to owners turned positive in both the first and second quarters of 2026, at KRW 30.9 billion and KRW 31.6 billion, respectively.
4
The sugar-collusion fine of KRW 130.25 billion remains under administrative litigation, while a separate bid-rigging and byproduct-pricing case in starch/starch sugar is still under FTC review.
5
The chemical division continues to shift its mix toward higher-value specialty products such as engineering plastics, personal-care polymers, and ion-exchange resins.

Business structure

Samyang Corp operates across two main segments, food and chemicals: the food segment's core products are sugar, wheat flour, starch/starch sugar, and edible oils, while the chemical segment covers engineering plastics, PET containers, ion-exchange resins, and personal-care polymers.

As of 2024, food-segment revenue stood at about KRW 1.586 trillion and chemical-segment revenue at about KRW 1.116 trillion, and according to a credit-rating report, sugar, flour, and starch/starch-sugar products together account for roughly 44.5% of total revenue and 42.7% of operating profit on a 2022-2024 average basis.

In the domestic starch and starch-sugar market, Samyang along with Daesang, Sajo CPK, and CJ CheilJedang forms an oligopoly holding a combined 95.7% share in starch and 86.4% in starch sugar, and the company also holds a substantial share of the sugar market alongside CJ CheilJedang and Daehan Sugar.

The chemical business is run through consolidated subsidiaries including Samyang Packaging (PET containers, aseptic), Samyang Ecotech, and KCI (personal care, ion-exchange resins), with the U.S. acquisition of Verdant expanding the global footprint of the personal-care business.

The water-solutions business is expanding sales of ultra-pure water products for nuclear power and semiconductor applications, shifting its portfolio toward higher-value-added products.

In the starch-sugar business, Samyang has launched allulose produced with its own proprietary enzymes under the 'Nexsweet' brand and is building dedicated prebiotics and allulose plants to expand globally.

More recently, the company pursued the acquisition of Japan's Soda Aromatic, a flavor and fragrance specialist, marking its first overseas M&A in the food business to secure an international foothold.

Overall, Samyang is in the process of restructuring toward chemicals and specialty products in response to the maturation of its traditional commodity food businesses.

Earnings trend

Quarterly revenue · Operating profit

₩673.8B₩38.5B25Q2₩665.9B₩38.4B25Q3₩602.9B₩10.7B25Q4₩608.3B₩21.1B26Q1₩705.5B₩43.1B26Q2

RevenueOperating profit

Annual revenue · Operating profit

₩2.7T₩82B2022₩2.7T₩113.2B2023₩2.7T₩133.5B2024₩2.6T₩111.7B2025

RevenueOperating profit

Quarterly results · Last 5 quarters
Quarter	Revenue	Operating profit	Op. margin
2025Q2	₩673.8B	₩38.5B	5.7%
2025Q3	₩665.9B	₩38.4B	5.8%
2025Q4	₩602.9B	₩10.7B	1.8%
2026Q1	₩608.3B	₩21.1B	3.5%
2026Q2	₩705.5B	₩43.1B	6.1%

Annual results
Year	Revenue	Operating profit	Net income (parent)	Op. margin	ROE	Debt-to-equity
2022	₩2.7T	₩82B	₩69B	3.1%	5.2%	92.7%
2023	₩2.7T	₩113.2B	₩106.9B	4.3%	7.1%	87.2%
2024	₩2.7T	₩133.5B	₩121.5B	5.0%	7.0%	70.5%
2025	₩2.6T	₩111.7B	-₩302.4B	4.4%	−18.8%	103.1%

Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-08-17

Earnings analysis

Annual revenue was KRW 2.6524 trillion in 2022, KRW 2.6514 trillion in 2023, KRW 2.6718 trillion in 2024, and KRW 2.5625 trillion in 2025, showing gradual growth through 2024 before a modest decline in 2025.

Operating profit rose from KRW 82.0 billion (3.1% margin) in 2022 to KRW 113.2 billion (4.3%) in 2023 and KRW 133.5 billion (5.0%) in 2024, before slipping back to KRW 111.7 billion (4.4%) in 2025.

Net income attributable to owners remained solidly positive at KRW 69.0 billion in 2022, KRW 106.9 billion in 2023, and KRW 121.5 billion in 2024, but reversed sharply into a net loss of KRW 302.4 billion in 2025.

This loss stemmed from provisions booked in advance for expected Fair Trade Commission fines related to the sugar and starch/starch-sugar collusion cases; notably, the fourth quarter of 2025 alone recorded a net loss attributable to owners of KRW 392.4 billion even as that same quarter's operating profit remained positive at KRW 10.7 billion, indicating the loss was driven by a non-operating, one-off item rather than the core business.

Operating cash flow for 2025 nonetheless remained solid at KRW 204.5 billion, supporting the view that the net loss reflected a non-cash accounting provision rather than an actual cash outflow.

Since then, the company posted revenue of KRW 608.3 billion, operating profit of KRW 21.1 billion, and net income attributable to owners of KRW 30.9 billion in the first quarter of 2026, followed by revenue of KRW 705.5 billion, operating profit of KRW 43.1 billion, and net income of KRW 31.6 billion in the second quarter, marking two consecutive quarters of positive net income.

Notably, second-quarter 2026 operating profit of KRW 43.1 billion exceeded the levels seen in the second quarter (KRW 38.5 billion) and third quarter (KRW 38.4 billion) of 2025, suggesting quarterly results have passed a trough and entered a recovery trend.

The year-end 2025 debt ratio rose sharply to 103.1% from 70.5% in 2024 and 87.2% in 2023, reflecting the reduction in equity caused by the large net loss.

Industry analysis

The food segment faces structural growth headwinds from the maturity of the domestic sugar industry, encroachment from alternative sweeteners, and stagnant domestic demand tied to the declining birth rate.

A credit-rating report assessed that the food segment is exposed to pressures from price cuts, weakening B2B consumption, and a high exchange-rate environment, and projected that a 4-6% cut in sugar and flour prices in the first quarter of 2026 would somewhat weaken food-segment profitability.

Because the food segment relies heavily on imported raw materials, its margins are highly sensitive to international grain prices and exchange rates; cost pressures rose sharply during the 2021-2022 grain, raw sugar, and currency spike, before profitability improved in 2023-2024 as grain prices stabilized and price increases took full effect.

The chemical segment continues to pursue mix improvement toward higher-value products and divestment of low-return businesses, but rising power tariffs and oil-driven increases in raw-material costs (phenol, benzene, PET chip) make sustained margin improvement difficult.

The domestic starch and starch-sugar market remains an oligopoly among Daesang, Sajo CPK, Samyang, and CJ CheilJedang, holding a combined 95.7% share in starch and 86.4% in starch sugar, and the wave of Fair Trade Commission sanctions in recent years is pushing for structural change in industry-wide pricing practices.

The FTC has imposed a three-year obligation on the four companies to report pricing changes, potentially making the industry's price-setting practices more transparent going forward.

Outlook

The most notable recent development is the FTC's August 31, 2026 decision to fully exempt Samyang from both the corrective order and the fine related to the starch and starch-sugar price-fixing case.

The originally assessed fine of KRW 210.34 billion represented roughly 11.78% of the company's year-end 2025 equity, and because Samyang had already booked this amount as a provision last year—contributing to its net loss—the exemption creates room to partially reverse that book loss going forward.

However, the fines related to sugar collusion (KRW 130.25 billion) and flour collusion (about KRW 94.7 billion) remain finalized, and the sugar case is now the subject of an administrative lawsuit filed by Samyang and Daehan Sugar against the FTC, with full trial proceedings beginning in late August 2026 that warrant continued monitoring.

Separately, an FTC examination report has already been submitted to the commission regarding bid-rigging and byproduct-pricing collusion in starch and starch sugar, covering related sales of roughly KRW 940 billion, leaving an additional sanction risk still pending review.

The company has stated it will codify a ban on price and volume coordination and a mandatory immediate-reporting duty for collusion proposals, alongside a full review of trading processes across all business units, as part of its prevention measures.

On the growth front, the company is pursuing the acquisition of Japan's Soda Aromatic to establish its first overseas M&A foothold in the food business, while advancing higher-value engineering plastics and ion-exchange resin sales in chemicals and building dedicated allulose and prebiotics plants to upgrade its specialty-materials portfolio in food.

On dividends, the company maintained its per-share payout at the same level as the prior year despite the large 2025 net loss, though the payout ratio itself was not meaningfully calculable given the net loss.

Valuation

PER

—

PBR

0.3×

ROE

-17.2%

EPS

-₩28,263

BPS

₩153,673

Dividend per share

₩1,750

Samyang's shares have traded at a discount to book value for an extended period, and according to one media report, the price-to-book ratio has hovered around 0.3x for several years.

While the large 2025 net loss made conventional price-to-earnings calculations difficult for a time, net income turned positive in both the first and second quarters of 2026, signaling early signs of earnings normalization.

Dividends were maintained at the prior year's per-share level despite last year's large net loss, though it should be noted that the payout ratio itself was not meaningfully calculable given the net loss.

The full exemption of the starch/starch-sugar collusion fine also opens the possibility of a future reversal of the large provision booked last year, a relevant fact when assessing the balance sheet.

That said, the sugar-collusion litigation and a separate pending FTC review of bid-rigging and byproduct-pricing collusion mean that potential additional burdens have not been fully resolved.

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 2026-08-17

Bull factors

Full Fine Exemption Eases Financial Uncertainty

The FTC's August 31, 2026 decision to fully exempt Samyang from the KRW 210.3 billion starch/starch-sugar collusion fine creates room to reverse a burden previously booked as a provision last year.

The exempted amount equaled roughly 11.78% of equity, and the exemption could positively affect the company's financial-health metrics. The company itself has indicated it is considering whether this could translate into greater room for shareholder returns or growth investment.

Net Income Turns Positive in First Half of 2026

Net income attributable to owners was positive in both the first and second quarters of 2026, at KRW 30.9 billion and KRW 31.6 billion respectively, marking a break from the large 2025 loss.

Second-quarter operating profit of KRW 43.1 billion exceeded the levels seen in the second and third quarters of 2025, suggesting quarterly results have entered a recovery phase.

Operating cash flow also remained solid at KRW 204.5 billion even during the loss-making 2025 period, indicating the core business's cash-generating capacity was not impaired.

Chemical Specialty Shift and Overseas Expansion

The chemical segment continues to improve its mix toward higher-value products such as engineering plastics, personal-care polymers, ion-exchange resins, and ultra-pure water for semiconductor and nuclear applications.

The acquisition of Verdant in the U.S. expanded the global scale of the personal-care business, and the company is now pursuing the acquisition of Japan's Soda Aromatic to secure its first overseas M&A foothold in the food business.

This specialty and overseas expansion strategy could help offset stagnation in the traditional commodity food business.

Bear factors

Repeated Antitrust Sanctions and Pending Litigation

Samyang was implicated in collusion cases across three areas—sugar, flour, and starch/starch sugar—resulting in a large cumulative fine exposure, and the sugar-related KRW 130.25 billion fine remains under administrative litigation.

An FTC examination report has been submitted regarding a separate bid-rigging and byproduct-pricing collusion case in starch/starch sugar, covering roughly KRW 940 billion in related sales, leaving further sanction risk pending review. Repeated collusion findings could continue to pose both financial and reputational risks going forward.

Structural Growth Stagnation in the Food Segment

The food segment faces structural growth deceleration from the maturity of the sugar industry, encroachment from alternative sweeteners, and stagnant domestic demand tied to the declining birth rate.

In the first quarter of 2026, these factors contributed to a 1.9% year-on-year decline in consolidated revenue, and combined with cuts in sugar and flour prices, profitability is expected to weaken somewhat further.

Given its heavy reliance on imported raw materials, the segment also remains continuously exposed to international grain-price and exchange-rate volatility.

Residual Burden from the Large 2025 Net Loss

The 2025 net loss attributable to owners reached KRW 302.4 billion, pushing the year-end debt ratio up sharply to 103.1% from 70.5% a year earlier.

While the starch/starch-sugar fine was exempted, the sugar-collusion fine and its related litigation remain unresolved, so the possibility of another one-off loss cannot be ruled out. The absence, so far, of a concrete shareholder-return expansion or value-up plan following the large net loss is also worth watching.

Risk factors

Regulatory and Legal Risk

The KRW 130.25 billion sugar-collusion fine is now subject to an administrative lawsuit filed by Samyang and Daehan Sugar against the FTC, with full trial proceedings beginning in late August 2026 and an uncertain outcome.

A separate FTC review of bid-rigging and byproduct-pricing collusion in starch/starch sugar is ongoing, leaving further sanction risk. A history of repeated violations could also serve as an aggravating factor in any future similar investigations.

Raw Material and Foreign-Exchange Risk

The food segment relies heavily on imported raw materials, making margins highly sensitive to international grain prices and exchange-rate movements.

The chemical segment is also exposed to rising costs for key raw materials such as phenol, benzene, and PET chip amid higher oil prices, with increased power tariffs adding further cost pressure. These external variables, combined with limited pricing flexibility, could increase quarter-to-quarter earnings volatility.

Competitive and Structural Demand Risk

The domestic starch/starch-sugar and sugar markets have long been oligopolistic with limited competition, but the FTC's successive collusion sanctions and the newly imposed three-year price-reporting obligation could reshape pricing practices going forward.

At the same time, sugar-industry maturity, expansion of alternative sweeteners, and demand stagnation tied to the declining birth rate remain structural demand risks.

The chemical segment also faces a difficult environment for defending profitability amid front-end demand volatility and intensifying cost competition from competitor capacity additions.

What to watch next

Around November 2026 (expected Q3 earnings release)
Investors should check whether the reversal of the previously booked provision following the fine exemption is reflected, and whether the recovery trend in the chemical and food segments continues.
Ongoing (future hearing schedule to be confirmed)
The progress and outcome of the administrative lawsuit over the sugar-collusion fine will determine whether the finalized KRW 130.25 billion fine is ultimately borne by the company.
Decision date undetermined (FTC review ongoing)
The outcome of the FTC's review of the starch bid-rigging and byproduct-pricing collusion case is a key variable determining the scale of any additional fine risk.
Acquisition process ongoing (completion date to be confirmed)
It is worth monitoring whether the acquisition of Japan's Soda Aromatic is completed and how it contributes to earnings after consolidation.

Overall view

Samyang recorded a large net loss in 2025 after booking provisions in advance for expected fines related to the sugar and starch/starch-sugar collusion cases, but has shown signs of earnings normalization since the starch/starch-sugar fine was fully exempted in late August 2026 and net income turned positive for two consecutive quarters in the first half of 2026.

Regulatory risk has not been fully resolved, however, as the sugar-collusion fine remains under administrative litigation and a separate FTC review of bid-rigging and byproduct-pricing collusion in starch/starch sugar is still pending.

Structurally, the company is pursuing a shift toward specialty chemicals and overseas M&A-driven growth alongside the maturation of its traditional commodity food businesses.

Financially, operating cash flow remained solid despite the large 2025 net loss, indicating the core business's cash-generating capacity was not impaired.

Whether the provision reversal is reflected in third-quarter results, whether the recovery in the chemical and food segments continues, and how the remaining litigation and regulatory reviews are resolved will be key variables shaping the company's financial trajectory going forward.

Sources

Korea Exchange (KRX) — Prices · Market Cap · Volume
FSS electronic disclosure system (DART) — Financial statements · Dividend filings

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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.