SWNOVELXO 3
Dokyung couldn’t hide his surprise.
Just as the message on his commute a few days ago had indicated, Yeongnam Paper’s stock price was indeed exploding upwards.
Once might be a coincidence, but twice…
“What are you so surprised about?”
“Pardon?”
“Weren’t you the one who told me to keep an eye on the paper sector, Dokyung-ssi?”
“Ah, as I said then, I wasn’t certain…”
“Come on, judging by the picture you painted then, you seemed pretty sure.”
Choi Woojin recalled what Dokyung had explained to him that day.
Anyone could have thought that as the price of corrugated base paper rises, the price of packaging boxes would also increase.
However, Dokyung went further, weaving in the fire incident at Seokpung Paper’s factory, which dominates the domestic paper market, making the picture even more appealing.
And now, the market was moving exactly as Dokyung had said.
“The picture you explained to me was quite understandable. And in just three days, it’s risen this much.”
Choi Woojin pointed at the monitor as he spoke, showing that almost all companies in the paper sector had risen by more than 10%.
“The reason it rose is…”
“Ah, I didn’t explain that. An article came out this morning. The Corrugated Cardboard Industry Cooperative announced they’re raising the price of corrugated cardboard-related products by 10%.”
“Not just a suggested price?”
“Right. They’ve already finished negotiations and raised the supply price. They say it’ll go out at a 10% increased price starting next week.”
Dokyung nodded at Choi Woojin’s words. It wasn’t just about creating a mood; the situation had already been agreed upon between paper companies and buyers.
It was enough material to heat up the market.
“There’s one thing I’m curious about. I’ve been racking my brains a bit.”
Choi Woojin continued his explanation, pointing at the monitor screen with his finger.
“As you know, the industry leader in the paper sector is Seokpung Paper, as we discussed that day.”
The significance of an industry leader in stocks couldn’t be ignored.
Its market capitalization was naturally at the top, and when the paper sector rises like this, it’s the leader that drives the stock price increase within the industry.
“But Seokpung’s stock price has risen by 8%. Despite having a 40% domestic market share.”
Dokyung quietly focused on Choi Woojin’s words.
“However, Yeongnam Paper has risen by 19%. If things go well, we might even see the upper limit in the afternoon.”
Dokyung was also surprised by Choi Woojin’s words. He had thought the paper sector would stir, but Yeongnam Paper was rising even more than the industry leader, just as the message had indicated that day.
“What I’m curious about is why Yeongnam Paper has risen 19% when the industry leader’s return is 8%.”
“That’s…”
“Wait. Let me tell you what I think first.”
Dokyung smiled as he looked at Choi Woojin.
Even when asking Dokyung for something, Choi Woojin always tried to find the final answer himself.
Dokyung liked Choi Woojin’s constant efforts to improve. He was truly someone with a lot to learn from.
“Seokpung has risen too much while leading the industry. Its PER is about four times higher than other listed companies in the sector.”
PER (Price-Earnings Ratio) is a figure calculated by dividing the stock price by earnings per share.
In other words, if the PER is low, it means the stock price is low compared to the company’s earnings, indicating that it’s undervalued in the market.
As Choi Woojin said, since Seokpung Paper’s PER was higher than other paper companies, investors seemed reluctant to reach out, thinking it was overvalued compared to its fair value.
“These days, many people on YouTube and in books say to invest based on PER. Maybe retail investors are flocking to Yeongnam, which is relatively undervalued, rather than Seokpung with its high PER?”
Dokyung nodded at Choi Woojin’s words and opened his mouth.
“That could be the case.”
“Could be? Are you saying it’s not because of this?”
“No, it’s likely a combination of reasons. You also know the reason, Assistant Manager.”
“I know?”
At Dokyung’s words, Choi Woojin furrowed his brow in thought, then snapped his fingers and looked at Dokyung.
“There was a fire at the factory, right?”
As Choi Woojin answered like that, Dokyung smiled.
“Yes, there was an article saying that due to the fire at Seokpung Paper’s second factory, it would take 4 months to recover from the fire and for the production line to return to normal operation.”
“Ah, right! That was it!”
Dokyung then explained to Choi Woojin his analysis of Yeongnam Paper.
No matter how much the message told him that this was the answer, he couldn’t blindly follow it.
“There’s one more thing. May I take a look?”
“Ah, of course. Go ahead.”
Dokyung approached Choi Woojin’s side and, after getting his permission, moved the mouse around to bring up the desired screen.
“As you said, Assistant Manager, Yeongnam Paper is relatively undervalued, and Seokpung Paper’s factory fire will reduce their production capacity going forward. But the biggest reason is…”
Dokyung pointed at the monitor screen as he continued his explanation.
“It’s the current supply and demand situation for Yeongnam Paper. Rather than individual investors…”
“Foreign investors and institutions are scooping it up.”
“Yes, and I think I know why they’re doing so.”
Saying this, Dokyung began searching for something again. Then he brought up a news article.
It was an analysis article about market share in the domestic paper industry.
“If you look here, in product packaging boxes, Seokpung’s market share is 20%, while Yeongnam’s is 35%.”
At Dokyung’s explanation, Choi Woojin smiled brightly as if all his curiosity had been satisfied.
“So that’s why you said it was complex?”
“Yes, while Yeongnam Paper is relatively smaller in scale, its market share in product packaging boxes is actually higher than Seokpung’s.”
“Right, and the product most affected by this supply price increase is…”
“Product packaging boxes, I’d say. Low supply price, but enormous demand.”
If you were to choose the most commonly seen disposable item in daily life, it would be product packaging boxes.
From delivery boxes to cosmetics and other industrial products, they were all packaged in paper boxes.
“Of course, the price of base paper has risen, but even if the base paper price goes down…”
“The increased supply price won’t come down.”
If there was no demand, the price of products produced by Yeongnam Paper would go down, but Yeongnam Paper had already deeply penetrated the market.
“Given that the industry’s supply contract period is 1 to 2 years, there doesn’t seem to be room for other companies to break in.”
“Right, companies would choose Yeongnam Paper’s stable supply over contracts with new suppliers. They tend to be quite conservative in this aspect.”
For instance, there was a case where a bread-making company couldn’t release bread to the market because of difficulties in securing plastic trays.
That’s why companies wanted stable supply.
“Actually, the reason I wanted to see you, Dokyung-ssi, is because of that day you told me to look at paper stocks.”
Choi Woojin carefully continued his story towards Dokyung.
“That day, a client contacted me asking what to focus on, so I told them to pay attention to paper stocks. I evaluated it separately and thought the material looked good.”
“Ah, I see.”
“But it rose more sharply than expected, and just now the client called to thank me.”
Choi Woojin smiled as he looked at Dokyung.
“And they said they’d entrust a certain portion to me, apart from what they manage themselves. Thank you, Dokyung-ssi. Really, thank you. I wanted to say this, that’s why I called you.”
“It’s nothing. You didn’t have to tell me this, but you’re thanking me. I don’t know how to react.”
Choi Woojin was someone worthy of respect, both as a senior and as a human being.
“I was thinking of keeping quiet and taking credit for myself, but I felt like I wouldn’t be able to face you properly next time if I got caught.”
Choi Woojin joked playfully, and Dokyung smiled.
“You don’t have lunch plans today, right?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Let’s go out in 30 minutes. I’ll treat you to something expensive.”
“Then I’ll gratefully accept and enjoy it.”
“Hahaha, alright. I’ll wrap things up and we’ll leave in 30 minutes. See you then.”
Dokyung bowed to Choi Woojin and left the room.
“Phew…”
After leaving Choi Woojin’s room, Dokyung’s legs gave out and he sat on a waiting bench in the corridor.
‘It was right this time too…’
Dokyung vividly recalled everything from the day the first message arrived until today.
From Jiwon Autotech to this time with Yeongnam Paper, the stocks recommended by the messages all rose, as if mocking his doubts.
Dokyung took out his phone and checked the message.
[Are you still hesitating to join? This is a VIP service.]
[Did you see the results of Jiwon Autotech we recommended yesterday?]
[Since you still seem to be hesitating, we’ll give you investment information one more time.]
[Stock: Yeongnam Paper]
[This is the last taste. Please contact us after checking the results.]
At first, he thought it was an obvious illegal leading room message and casually blocked the number.
But the messages that kept coming even after blocking, and the fact that only he could see these messages, were now making Dokyung’s head spin.
‘Why me?’
Dokyung had checked with his colleagues, not just Choi Woojin, to see if they could see the messages.
And the answers he got back were…
‘It’s a clock app?’
‘Nice wallpaper.’
‘Dokyung-ssi, do you like cats? Why the cat picture?’
‘No one but me can see the message.’
If only he could see this message, if it was giving him hints about the market…
‘Could this perhaps be an opportunity given to me?’
It might be an arrogant thought, but there was no other explanation.
Dokyung stared blankly at the message.
‘Am I getting unnecessarily excited?’
Dokyung smiled bitterly and put down his phone.
He felt foolish for getting excited and misunderstanding, when it could just be an illegally operated company.
It seemed he had barked up the wrong tree.
Bzzzz-
Just then, his phone vibrated, and Dokyung immediately checked the screen.
[Yoon Dokyung-ssi, you have been chosen.]
Dokyung’s expression rapidly hardened at the short message.