MNC Solution falls 19% on Kospi, Vect doubles on Kosdaq

MNC Solution CI

MNC Solution, the final company to list on the Kospi in 2024, saw its stock price drop over 19 percent on its first trading day on Monday. Shares in the Korean defense contractor were trading at 52,600 won ($36.58) as of 9:31 a.m., down 19.08 percent from its IPO price of 65,000 won.

MNC Solution specializes in manufacturing artillery and turret drive systems for defense vehicles such as the K9 self-propelled howitzer and the K2 tank. The company originated as Motrol, a division of Doosan Group that produced hydraulic systems and defense components, before being spun off in December 2020.

The company set its IPO price at 65,000 won, below the lower end of its anticipated range of 80,000 to 93,300 won, following subdued demand during institutional investor bookbuilding. The subsequent retail subscription phase saw a lackluster competition rate of 2.4 to 1.

In contrast, Vect, which debuted on the Kosdaq the same day, doubled its IPO price during early trading. The company’s shares traded at 9,390 won, up 140.77 percent from its IPO price of 3,900 won. Vect, a digital signage company, provides services ranging from content planning and hardware installation to system operation and maintenance. The company priced its IPO at the upper limit of its anticipated range and drew significant demand during the retail subscription phase, achieving a competition rate of 1,170 to 1 and collecting 2.7 trillion won in deposits.

Meanwhile, medical device company PharmaResearch hit an all-time high on Monday morning, driven by optimism surrounding its overseas market growth. The company’s shares were trading at 257,500 won as of 9:53 a.m., up 5.10 percent from the previous session. The stock opened 7.14 percent higher and climbed as much as 8.98 percent to 267,000 won earlier in the day.

The surge is attributed to strong export data for the aesthetic medical industry, with November 2024 exports totaling $372.9 million, or a 19.1 percent increase year-on-year. PharmaResearch is expected to benefit from seasonal demand in overseas markets.