By Lee Min-hyung
Before buying a stock for its income, we want to see if the dividends have been stable in the past, and if the company has a track record of maintaining its dividend. For the purpose of this article, we only scrutinise the last decade of AhnLab's dividend payments. The dividend has been stable over the past 10 years, which is great. AHNLAB INC: Forcasts, revenue, earnings, analysts expectations, ratios for AHNLAB INC Stock A053800 KR.
| AhnLab founder Ahn Cheol-soo |
The entrepreneur-turned-politician, a former presidential candidate of the third-largest People's Party, is at the center of public criticism here, after one of his party members was detained for allegedly fabricating information to defame President Moon Jae-in.
The party is suspected of spreading false information during the recent presidential race that Moon's son Joon-yong received favors when applying for a job at a state-run company.
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The snowballing scandal drove down AhnLab shares to close at 50,200 won on the tech-heavy KOSDAQ, Friday, down 500 won or 0.99 percent from the previous day. This was the lowest this year.
AhnLab stock has fluctuated in recent months. It reached a record high of 149,000 won at the end of March when his support rating was neck-and-neck with Moon's.
But Ahnlab's corporate value has since seen a steep downfall, as Ahn began to lose the public trust after failing to make a strong impression during a series of televised presidential debates.
Ahn's uncertain fate is also casting a cloudy outlook of the firm's weakening valuation. He has been keeping a low profile after the controversy erupted last week, with the public calling for his official apology.Ahn stepped down from the AhnLab presidency in 2005 and has since shifted his career into being a professor and a politician.
Despite completely stepping down from management, AhnLab shares have been hit hard by his political ups and downs. This is because his symbolic image as the nation's first founder of a legendary venture firm, being the face of the firm's brand image even today.
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On Thursday, a committee member of the People's Party also urged Ahn to make a public apology.'Ahn should take responsibility for the organization and aides that have supported him during the presidential campaign, over the information fabrication scandal,' Kim Tae-il, the reform committee chief of the party, said in a radio interview. 'The party hopes Ahn will come forward and show leadership by overcoming this crisis.'
No specific evidence has been found on Ahn playing a part in the scandal. The prosecution detained the party member, Lee You-mi, who was a student of Ahn's when he was a professor at KAIST, Tuesday.
The prosecution is expected to look into whether Ahn and then party leader Park Jie-won were aware of the fabrication.