1、 Disclosures&Disclaimer This report must be read with the disclosures and the analyst certifications in the Disclosure appendix,and with the Disclaimer,which forms part of it.Issuer of report:The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited,Seoul Securities Branch View HSBC Global Investment Re

2、search at:https:/ The 21stedition of the EM Sentiment SurveyClick to viewBulls on the march Staple names under our coverage have underperformed the market so far:up 17%y-t-d vs.KOSPI up 76%We think weak consumption is already priced in to the shares;time to revisit some of the laggards,in our view U

3、pgrade Samyang Foods,Orion to Buy(from Hold)and downgrade HiteJinro to Hold(from Buy);adjust TPs Whats on our mind?In a bull market,staple names under our coverage have significantly underperformed the KOSPI(up 17%y-t-d vs.KOSPI up 76%)which may not be a surprise.While we acknowledge that consumptio

4、n remains weak,we expect earnings to gradually bottom out.We also highlight that,unlike the previous quarter,3Q consensus is not demanding so the market has already priced in weak consumption(see Korea consumer:After the rally,then what?,17 July 2025).See figure 1 for details of our 3Q25e estimates.

5、Preferred name:Samyang Foods(upgrade to Buy);keep KT&G at Buy We like the fact that even after the rally,KT&G offers over 10%shareholder returns over 2025-27e in addition to what should be decent 3Q25 results.For Samyang Foods,we think the recent pullback provides a good opportunity to buy,plus its

6、US price hike(9%)should offset the negative tariff impact.Separately,we forecast an improvement in earnings momentum for Orion and CJCJ.However,for Nongshim,the overseas growth story seems to be priced in the shares;prefer Samyang Foods.The beer industry seems weak,so its difficult to get excited ab