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(Photo= Yonhap news) |
[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Sangjin] Recently, SK Securities (001510), which has posted consecutive losses over the past two quarters, has embarked on emergency management measures by reducing its executive team by more than 20% this year.
According to the financial investment industry on the 18th, SK Securities' executive count has decreased from 102 at the end of last year to 78 recently. In the first quarter, 16 executives were dismissed and 9 were appointed, followed by an additional 17 dismissals in the second quarter. The dismissed executives were reportedly from various sectors including real estate project financing (PF), corporate finance, and information technology (IT).
SK Securities' significant reduction in executive numbers is interpreted as a measure to reduce salary expenditures and prevent further deterioration in performance. As of last year-end, the number of executives at SK Securities accounted for 11.3% of its total workforce of 900 employees. The total annual salary for executives amounted to 27.527 billion Korean Won, representing 21.7% of the total annual salaries (127.126 billion Korean Won) for all employees. This decision partly stemmed from the employment guarantee for some executives during the transition of SK Group's largest shareholder from SK Group to the private equity fund J&W Partners in 2018.
With an abnormally large executive team, SK Securities recorded an operating loss of 13.9 billion Korean Won and a net loss of 5.9 billion Korean Won in the first quarter of this year, reversing from a net profit of 29.3 billion Korean Won loss in the fourth quarter of last year and marking two consecutive quarters of losses. Various fixed expenses related to real estate PF provisions concurrently burdened the company. Among the 8 securities firms with new CEOs appointed this year, SK Securities was the only one to report a net loss in the first quarter. Recently, credit rating agencies such as Korea Investors Service, Korea Credit Rating, and NICE Credit Rating have downgraded SK Securities' credit rating from 'A' to 'A-'.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim SangJin(letyou@alphabiz.co.kr)
