[Edaily Reporter Kim Hyung-il ] Seoul Auction Co. Ltd..(063170) Chairman Lee Ho-jae, the company’s largest shareholder, announced on the 9th that he had purchased 100,000 shares of the company’s stock on the open market.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system, Chairman Lee purchased a total of 100,000 shares of Seoul Auction Co. Ltd.—80,000 shares on the 25th of last month and 20,000 shares on the 3rd of this month. The total purchase amount was approximately 520 million won, representing 0.56% of the total issued shares. With this purchase, Chairman Lee’s holdings have increased to 2,465,000 shares, and his ownership stake has expanded to 13.87%. Seoul Auction Co. Ltd. also explained that this share acquisition demonstrates his commitment to responsible management and his confidence in the company’s future earnings growth.

Seoul Auction Co. Ltd. has been continuing its trend of improving performance recently. Following the first quarter of this year, the company returned to profitability in the second quarter compared to the same period last year, and consolidated revenue for the first half of the year reached 19.6 billion won, a 94% increase year-over-year. The company is also strengthening its financial stability. In July, Seoul Auction Co. Ltd. fully redeemed its first series of bearer, unsecured, private placement exchangeable bonds worth 12.5 billion won ahead of schedule. The company explained that the early redemption of the exchangeable bonds eliminated the interest burden associated with maturity payments and reduced its debt.

In the second half of the year, the company plans to drive earnings growth through premium auctions. Leveraging its capabilities in sourcing artworks, it intends to hold large-scale offline auctions to showcase representative works and blue-chip pieces by major domestic and international artists. A Seoul Auction Co. Ltd. official stated, “Amid a rebound in the domestic and international art auction market since early this year, the largest shareholder purchased the company’s shares on the open market as a demonstration of confidence in the company’s future growth through premium auctions and as part of responsible management.” The official added, “With major offline auctions scheduled for the second half of the year, we will actively secure high-value works to maximize auction performance.”