Kumho Tire plans to delist its shares from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) at the end of April 2019, according to local reports citing a company filing to the regulators.
South Korea’s second-largest tyre manufacturer, after Hankook Tire, said the reason for delisting its 76,034 shares traded on the LSE was to cut costs as financial losses continued to accumulate last year. The move would leave Seoul as the only market where its shares will be openly traded.
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Kumho reported an operating loss of KRW89.9bn (US$79m) in 2018, with the fourth quarter marking the eighth consecutive quarter of financial losses for the company. It cited a weak performance in the replacement market as the main reason for the losses.
In 2018 China’s Doublestar Group invested KRW646bn to become Kumho Tire’s largest shareholder with a 45% stake, after a protracted battle with labour unions and other stakeholders who feared the transfer of key operations to China.
