Baek Jong won “I have a lot to say”… ‘Black and White Chef’ was very popular so I bought a stock and hit the ‘jackpot’ [진영기의 찐개미 찐투자]

Baek Jong-won, CEO of The Born Korea, and chef Ahn Seong-jae attend the Netflix production show ‘Black and White Chef: Culinary Class War’ (directed by Kim Hak-min and Kim Eun-ji) a was held at JW Marriott Dongdaemun Seoul Square in Jongno, Seoul on the morning of the 11th and taking photo time. /Photo= Reporter Byeon Seong-hyeon Netflix’s cooking entertainment program ‘Black and White Chef: Cooking Class War’ is a hot topic every day. Investors are also busy trying to find suitable beneficiary stocks. This is because it is expected that if the Black and White Chef goes on an upward trajectory like ‘Squid Game’, which was very successful at the box office, that related stocks will also go.

According to Netflix on the 26th, Black and White Chef was named the most watched non-English series on Netflix in its first week of release. The number of views (viewing time divided by playing time) recorded from the 16th to the 22nd was 3.8 million. Black and White Chef ranked first among TV content and online video service (OTT) in the weekly thematic ratings published by Good Data Corporation on the 24th. The YouTube video posted by CEO Baek Jong with the introduction, ‘I have a lot to say’ actually won more than 5 million views within 5 days of posting.

In online communities, mostly associated with ‘black and white chef’. Content Tree CentralThis is mentioned. This is due to SLL Joongang, an unregistered subsidiary of Content Tree Joongang, investing in Studio Slam, the production company of Black and White Chef. SLL JoongAng has a 23.08% stake in Studio Slam, which produced ‘Singer Gain’ and ‘Crime Scene’ as well as Black and White Chef. It was first acquired on September 30, 2021 for simple investment purposes, and the stake acquisition price was 2.82 billion won, and the current book value is about 3.8 billion won.

The theme of black and white chefs also had an effect in the stock price. Content Tree Central rose for four consecutive trading days from the 19th to the 24th, the first trading day after the release of Black and White Chef. During this time, the stock price, which was in the middle of the 9,000 won range, jumped about 16% to about 11,000 won.

However, it should be noted that it is difficult to fully reflect the performance of black and white chefs in Content Tree Central. Studio Slam is an affiliated company, not a subsidiary of SLL Central. Therefore, SLL Central cannot reflect the performance of Studio Slam in consolidated accounting. As equity method profits, net profit is only reflected in proportion to the ‘equity ratio’. Equity method gains and losses is a concept where the profits and losses of companies that own 20% to 50% of the shares are reflected in the investee company’s financial statements as profits and loss corresponding to the property ratio.

Therefore, it is unlikely that the success of Black and White Chef will significantly affect the short-term performance of SLL Central and Content Tree Central. Studio Slam’s annual net loss last year was about 800 million won. Before investing, experts urge you to carefully study the impact of content success on performance.

An official from SLL Central said, “The plan to expand Studio Slam’s interest has not yet been decided.

In addition, among investors, The Born Korea, which is currently going through the IPO process, is also known as a stock related to Black and White Chef. This is because Baek Jong-won, CEO of The Born Korea, appeared as a judge on Black and White Chef.

It is easy to find precedents where the success of content leads to an increase in stock prices. The stock price of Ace Story, the production company of ‘Weird Lawyer Woo Young-woo’ in 2022 fell to around 16,000 before the drama aired, but it more than doubled due to the popularity of the drama .

When the Netflix web drama Squid Game was a box office success in 2021, the stock prices of Showbox, Bucket Studio, and Dexter fluctuated. Showbox was listed as a related stock because it had invested in Squid Game’s production company Cyron Pictures, and Bucket Studio was listed as a related stock because the group owned shares of a leading actor Squid Game Lee Jeong-jae. Dexter was listed as a related stock thanks to the news that its Livetone subsidiary was responsible for the sound effects of the squid game.

Before that, Content Tree Central gained attention when the Netflix series ‘Suriname’ was a huge success at the box office. This is because Perfect Storm Film, which was in charge of the Suriname production, is an unregistered company, and is indirectly controlled by Content Tree Central by holding 100% of the shares through SLL Central.

However, it is important to note that the uptrend of stocks classified as content gainers did not last long. Currently, Ace Story, Showbox, and Dexter are unable to recover their stock prices at the time of their box office success. In fact, Bucket Studio’s trading has been suspended since last March due to management’s alleged breach of trust and embezzlement and rejection of the auditor’s opinion. Content Tree Central also fell over 8% the previous day and was adjusted.

Hankyung.com Reporter Jinyoung-gi young71@hankyung.com