Shares of AhnLab, the country’s best-known internet security solutions provider, jumped by the daily limit of 15 percent for a second day after its founder Ahn Cheoul-soo said he is mulling a mayoral bid.
AhnLab shares soared 14.95 percent from Friday’s close as investors flocked to bet on the likelihood of Ahn becoming Seoul mayor and place greater priority on IT companies.
Ahn, an IT entrepreneur-turned-professor, in 1995 founded AhnLab and made it the best-known software firm offering solutions to computer viruses and data intrusions. Opinion polls are showing overwhelming support for Ahn as Seoul mayor since he first hinted that he may run in October’s by-election Thursday.
Analysts, however, say the rally would likely be short lived as investors would quickly realize that Ahn’s career transition would have little effect on the company’s performance.
“AhnLab was the most well-known software company with solid business contents before the hype came along. The rally won’t last long,” Hong Jong-gil, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities, said.
Choi Byung-tae, a research fellow at HMC Investment & Securities, said AhnLab shares are in demand also because the market has a renewed interest in antivirus solutions.
“AhnLab has been releasing a package of antivirus solutions as variation of its flagship product V3 in the past year and those are in high demand due to a series of cyber attacks at major financial institutions this year,” Choi said.
By Cynthia J. Kim (
cynthiak@heraldcorp.com)
