'We're completely ruined': Investors burned as 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' producer faces delisting threat

"I invested after watching 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' and I'm completely ruined," one retail investor wrote online.

Pan Entertainment, the production company behind the hit Netflix drama series "When Life Gives You Tangerines," is now gripped by fears of delisting. Its share price, which once topped 4,000 won on the back of the show's success, has plummeted to around 1,191 won as of Friday.

Investors are nursing heavy losses, and anxiety is mounting as delisting concerns grow. Under Kosdaq rules, a stock that falls below 1,000 won — known as a "penny stock" — is placed on a watchlist, and if it fails to recover within a set period, the company faces delisting.

The company's share price hit an intraday low of 971 won on June 23 and has since barely held above the 1,100-won level. Under recently introduced penny-stock regulations, a company whose closing price stays below 1,000 won for 30 consecutive trading days is placed on a watchlist. If the stock then fails to close at or above 1,000 won for 45 consecutive trading days within the following 90 trading days, delisting proceedings begin.

Market capitalization requirements add further pressure. The minimum market cap threshold for maintaining a Kosdaq listing was raised to 20 billion won ($14.5 million), and will rise again to 30 billion won next year. As of Friday, Pan Entertainment's market cap stood at 32.9 billion won — a precarious margin above the current threshold.

Pan Entertainment, which produced the Netflix drama series "When Life Gives You Tangerines," also expanded into variety programming with a show featuring volleyball star Kim Yeon-kyung in a rookie director role, scoring strong ratings and winning a year-end award for best non-drama program.

The company was once regarded as a leading content producer, but its financials have become a drag. It posted an operating loss of 4.22 billion won last year. In the first quarter of this year, it barely swung to a profit with operating income of 84 million won, while sales fell to 9.83 billion won.

Even strong ratings are no longer enough to offset soaring production costs, deepening the struggles of content companies. In the past, a hit show would reliably lift a content producer's share price. That dynamic has changed. Most production companies are simply not making money.

Drama production costs, which stood at just 300 million to 400 million won per episode only a few years ago, have surged to as much as 2 billion won per episode. Lead actors now routinely command 200 million to 300 million won per episode. Variety show budgets have also skyrocketed, approaching 10 billion won per production. Even when a show draws blockbuster ratings, crushing production costs leave companies with little to show for it — and their share prices keep falling.

Barunson Entertainment & Arts, the production house behind "Parasite" — once celebrated as a titan of Korean cinema — is also facing a delisting crisis. The company has been placed on a watchlist for falling short of the market cap requirement. If its market cap remains below 20 billion won for 21 consecutive trading days after being placed on the watchlist, it will be delisted.

The situation is all the more striking given that Barunson Entertainment & Arts produced "Parasite," widely recognized as one of the greatest films of the 21st century and a defining work of Korean cinema.