Following Geumyang's official submission to the Korea Exchange on the 23rd of the month detailing its implementation of a management improvement plan, the delisting review procedure triggered by the external auditor's refusal is expected to proceed in full force by the end of this month. The Korea Exchange plans to convene the Listed Companies Disclosure Committee on May 26 to make a final judgment on the company's listing status, with the core issue of this review being the serious doubts raised by the external audit firm regarding the company's financial condition and sustainability. Listed companies are subject to strict exchange scrutiny to protect investors if they fail to receive an appropriate opinion from their accounting audit, and Geumyang is facing a crisis after receiving another audit opinion refusal on its audit report in 2024, continuing the situation from last year.
Shinhan Accounting Law Firm, which is conducting the external audit for Geumyang, stated in its audit report released in March that the company recorded an operating loss of 41.836 billion won and a net loss for the period of 53.587 billion won during the reporting period ending December 31, 2025. Furthermore, the report pointed out that as of December 31, 2025, current liabilities exceeded current assets by a staggering 611.243 billion won. The fact that current liabilities significantly outweigh current assets is interpreted as a clear signal that the company is in a very tight financial situation, meaning the debt to be repaid in the short term exceeds assets that can be liquidated immediately. The auditor has concluded that there is significant doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern based on this serious financial situation, leading to the refusal of the audit opinion.
There are still many procedures to unfold in the future, and tension is escalating. If the Listed Companies Disclosure Committee resolves to delist the company, a 3-day pre-notification period for delisting is first given, during which the company typically takes legal action such as applying for a lawsuit to invalidate the delisting decision and a stay of execution. If the court accepts this application for a stay of execution, the delisting procedure will temporarily halt until the result of the main lawsuit is reached; however, if rejected, the process proceeds to the final delisting sequence after another 3-day pre-notification period. Subsequently, a 7-day settlement trading period is granted, allowing investors to buy and sell stocks one last time, and it is expected that the company's valuation will be reassessed during this process.
Geumyang, established in 1978, was a traditional company that produced propellant and fine chemical products, but it also received significant market attention in the 2020s as it expanded its business into the secondary battery sector. On July 26, 2023, the stock price surged to 194,000 won during trading, nearly achieving a market capitalization of 10 trillion won; however, it subsequently faced difficulties due to insufficient capital raising relative to its business expansion speed and increasing financial burdens, causing the situation to deteriorate rapidly. As of March 21 last year, just before the stock trading suspension, the closing price dropped to 9,900 won, representing a decline of 94.9% from the peak, and the market capitalization also shrank to the 630 billion won range. The company side has stated that it is focusing on attracting domestic and foreign institutional investors and expects to achieve visible results before the convening of the Listed Companies Disclosure Committee, but it is expected that the possibility of maintaining the listing will diverge depending on whether Geumyang actually secures a clue to capital raising and improvement of its financial structure in the future.