Hanwha Aerospace stock hits new high on K9 howitzer supply to Romania

[Courtesy of Hanwha Aerospace Co.]

Hanwha Aerospace Co., a defense unit of South Korea’s Hanwha Group, saw its shares rise by more than 5 percent on Wednesday morning, driven by the news that it will supply K9 self-propelled howitzers to Romania.

As of 11:08 a.m., shares of Hanwha Aerospace were trading at 265,500 won ($191), up 5.36 percent from the previous session. Earlier in the morning, the stock hit a new 52-week high.

The country’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration announced earlier in the day that Hanwha Aerospace, the manufacturer of K9 self-propelled howitzers, signed a contract worth 1.3 trillion won with the Romanian Ministry of National Defense to supply 54 K9 howitzers, 36 K10 ammunition resupply vehicles, and ammunition.

This contract is Romania’s largest arms acquisition in the past seven years and the ninth country to adopt the K9, following Australia, Egypt, India, Norway, Estonia, Turkey, Poland, and Finland.

On the same day, HD Hyundai Mipo Co.’s stock also hit a 52-week high, following positive earnings forecasts.

Shares of HD Hyundai Mipo were trading at 101,700 won as of 11:11 a.m., up 6.16 percent from the previous day.

SK Securities Co. raised its target stock price for HD Hyundai Mipo from 90,000 won to 115,000 won, citing expectations of a surprise earnings in the second quarter.

“HD Hyundai Mipo is expected to post an operating profit of 4.4 billion won, achieving a surprise performance a quarter earlier than expected,” said Han Seung-han, an analyst at SK Securities. “This is due to a decrease in the proportion of container ship construction and exchange gains from the strong won/dollar exchange rate.”

Shares of HBL Global Pvt. Ltd., in the meantime, surged nearly 20 percent on Wednesday morning, following the news of its acquisition of Barabio, a company developing a chronic metabolic disease diagnosis and management platform.

HLB Global shares were trading at 7,030 won as of 11:13 a.m., up 19.56 percent from the previous day.

HLB Global announced on Tuesday that it secured a 68 percent stake in Barabio through a 6 billion won investment, becoming the company‘s largest shareholder.

Barabio is a biotech venture founded in 2021 by Professor Ahn Chul-woo, head of the Diabetes Center at Gangnam Severance Hospital. It is developing a diagnosis and management platform for chronic metabolic diseases, including diabetes.