Stock Highlight: Hankook Tyre & Technology Co Ltd

Whether you drive a SUV, a coupe, a truck or a bus, they all have one thing in common – tyres! Hankook Tyre and Technology Co (Hankook) supplies tyres to their large customer base of car, light and heavy vehicle and motorcycle manufactures and distributors globally.

Every day, people around the world rely on an estimated 1.4 billion passenger vehicles globally to go about their daily lives. As a company that has always been future-orientated, Hankook’s anticipation of the growth of personal transportation has served them very well indeed.

Founded in 1941, Hankook has grown into one of the largest tyre manufacturers in the world shipping over 102 million tyres annually to customers in 180 countries.

In 1990, the company established the Hankook Tyre Welfare Foundation with the vision of giving back to the local communities in which it operates. While Hankook’s philanthropic efforts are typically carried out on a regional or local basis, its initiatives span three major areas: mobility, community engagement and support for children and teens.

Through its mobility projects, Hankook leverages its core competencies to donate cars and tyres to social welfare centres in countries such as Korea, Hungary and Indonesia.

To date, approximately 500 vehicles have been donated, in addition to tens of thousands of tyres. Hankook also created the Tuieum Bus project in 2013 with the aim of providing cultural and educational opportunities to people with mobility challenges by offering free bus service to social welfare centres.

Through its community engagement efforts, Hankook also helps address pressing issues facing many at-risk youth. Since launching its social housing project in 2016, a total of sixteen social housing buildings have been provided to 219 households.

The company also created the DreamWith project, aimed at strengthening local communities by equipping residents to take initiative in addressing childcare and youth issues. The project supports 14 organizations and groups of local residents as they work on issues such as childcare, transportation and intergenerational communication.

It is these efforts, among many others, which have contributed to it being a preferred stock and shariah compliant investment.