[Economy PICK] Lotte, which suffered from 'liquidity crisis'... "No problem" confronted head-on.

[Anchor]
Let's start with the second topic.Lotte, which suffered from

'liquidity crisis'..."No problem", head-on refutation

Have you directly denied the rumor of Lotte's liquidity crisis?

[Reporter]
Rumors of a financial crisis at Lotte Group in December spread through YouTube and other online over the weekend.

As stock prices of Lotte Chemical and Lotte Shopping faltered due to the impact, Lotte Group also announced that the liquidity crisis was groundless.

However, as the stock price showed no signs of recovery, we issued additional explanatory data today.

Lotte Holdings said its total assets reached 139 trillion won and the value of its holdings reached 37.5 trillion won as of last month, maintaining stable liquidity.

Lotte Chemical also expressed its position on the failure to meet the financial items that must be maintained under the contract for 14 corporate bonds.

Lotte Holdings said the pending issue related to Lotte Chemical's corporate bonds was caused by a recent decline in profitability due to the slump in the petrochemical industry,

As of last month, we secured 4 trillion won in available liquidity funds, adding that there is no problem in repaying the principal and interest of corporate bonds.

As Lotte Group countered like this, related stock prices also succeeded in rebounding.

Lotte Holdings shares closed up 2.68% in the KOSPI market today, while Lotte Chemical and Lotte Shopping also closed up 1.99% and 3%, respectively.

However, some predict that the petrochemical industry will continue to remain sluggish next year,
The fact that Lotte On, an online shopping mall of
Lotte Shopping, is suffering from a chronic deficit is a homework to be solved.

[Anchor]
Recently, some companies are putting their core businesses on the market,
Why
?

[Reporter]
Recently, major conglomerates have been pushing for the sale of profitable subsidiaries.

First of all, SK Group is proceeding with the sale of its subsidiary SK Specialty as it seeks to restructure its business portfolio this year.

SK Specialty is a company that produces special gas used in semiconductor and display manufacturing processes and is the world's No. 1 company in this field.

The news of the sale drew more attention as it showed stable performance last year with sales of 680 billion won and operating profit of 140 billion won.

CJ CheilJedang is reportedly in contact with a private equity fund to sell its Green Bio business, which produces additives for animal feed.

CJ's market share of amino acid items for feed is the world's No. 1, and some predict that the ransom will reach trillions of won if sold.

CJ said that nothing has been decided yet, but that it is reviewing various strategic measures.

The recession is expected to continue next year, with the International Monetary Fund lowering its forecast for Korea's economic growth to 2% next year,
Analysts say that companies are preemptively seeking to reorganize their businesses to secure cash, adding to the low-cost offensive in China that trade regulations will be tightened after U.S. President-elect Trump took office.