[THE INVESTOR] NH Investment and Securities on Sept. 27 raised the target stock price of Innocean Worldwide, an advertising unit of Hyundai Motor Group, to 100,000 won (US$91), citing its growth potential despite uncertainties about the carmaker’s global car sales.

The share price closed at 72,400 won on the day, up 1.69 percent or 1,200 won from a day before.

The securities firm said Hyundai’s new brand launches, not its car sales, will affect Innocean’s sustainable growth in the coming months.

“Investors are showing excessive concerns about Hyundai’s slowing car sales and possible ad cuts,” said An Jae-min, an analyst at NH. “New orders will continue to come considering brands like Genesis and Ioniq are still in their early stage of launch, while other new car launches are planned.”

The analyst showed expectations about the marketing activities planned for the Genesis brand that have just started from this year.

Hyundai plans to launch a new entry-level model, called G70, under the Genesis brand in 2017 and a SUV model in 2018.

The securities firm predicted Innocean’s third-quarter operating profit at 23.1 billion won, up 17 percent from a year ago.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)