SK Hynix Becomes 'Big Hand' in Bond Market with Strong Semiconductor Performance, Purchasing Approximately 20 Trillion Won This Year

SK Hynix is changing the landscape of the bond issuance market by purchasing a large volume of credit products this year, including credit card bonds, bank bonds, securities bonds, and public corporation bonds.

According to the bond market and the securities industry on July 8, it is estimated that the volume of securities bonds and corporate bonds purchased by SK Hynix so far this year has reached approximately 20 trillion won.

The bonds purchased cover the entire spectrum of high-quality credit products, including public corporation bonds such as KEPCO bonds, bank bonds, financial bonds, securities bonds, and bonds issued by specialized credit finance companies.

SK Hynix's emergence as a major player in the credit market is interpreted as a result of its need for short-term investment vehicles for its rapidly increasing corporate cash reserves, driven by record-breaking semiconductor performance.

Ahead of its second-quarter earnings announcement at the end of this month, SK Hynix recorded its highest-ever performance in the first quarter, with 52 trillion won in revenue and 37 trillion won in operating profit.

During the same period, SK Hynix's cash and cash equivalents reached 54.3 trillion won, an increase of 19.4 trillion won from the end of the previous quarter.

Reflecting these results, SK Hynix's stock price has soared more than 1,300% since its low in April last year, and on June 22, it surpassed Samsung Electronics to take the top spot in market capitalization for the first time in 25 years.

In particular, with the American Depositary Receipt (ADR) listing and trading scheduled to begin on July 10, analysts suggest that additional demand for cash management may arise if the dollars raised through the ADR issuance are converted into won and brought into the domestic market.

A source in the short-term money market explained, "Deals can be created by SK Hynix inquiring with issuers about available products," adding, "Since these are inquiry-based issuances, there are many cases where SK Hynix takes the entire volume, whether it is public corporation bonds or specialized credit finance company bonds, which is how the market estimates the scale of their purchases."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.