Korean Air parent surges 102% ahead of family feud showdown

Global airline and transportation shares are reeling from the disruptions caused by the coronavirus epidemic. Yet one stock has bucked that trend and is now the second-best performer on South Korea’s benchmark index this year. Hanjin Kal Corp., the holding company that owns shares in Korean Air Lines and Jin Air, has soared 102% in 2020. As a result, its market capitalisation of $4b is double the combined amount of the two carriers. The outsized gains come ahead of the all but certain feud between the siblings of the founding family at a shareholders meeting later this month. Heather Cho, best known for her “nut rage” incident in 2014, is challenging her brother’s control of Hanjin Group. “The stock is rising not because of fundamentals but because of bets on which side of the Cho family would win the the tug-of-war of owning more shares ahead of the shareholder meeting,” said Kim Jang-won, an analyst at IBK Securities Co. in Seoul. The date of the meeting has yet to be set.<br/>