S Korea brokerages bullish on nation's shipbuilders

[SEOUL] South Korean shipbuilders, this year's worst-performing industry group, are attracting "buy" recommendations from three of the nation's biggest brokerages after valuations sank to records.

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co, Samsung Heavy Industries Co and three other listed shipbuilders lost an average 40 per cent this year till Monday, compared with a 0.1 per cent gain in the Kospi 200 Index.

The shares trade at 0.7 times net assets, versus a multiple of 1.1 for the Kospi 200 and the Bloomberg World Shipbuilding Index.