S. Korea’s economy returns to growth in Q3 due to improved exports

The South Korean economy in the July-September period marked the first quarterly expansion since the COVID-19 outbreak, reflecting the recent rebound in exports, central bank data showed Tuesday. While the government displayed some optimism over the latest turnaround, monetary authorities continued their wait-and-see approach, citing uncertainties such as the imminent US presidential election and the apparent coronavirus flare-up in Europe. The country’s real gross domestic product for

EconomyOct. 27, 2020

Hanwha Asset gains PFM license for mainland China

Hanwha Asset Management said Tuesday its wholly owned Chinese unit has been granted a private fund management license for mainland China. A PFM license, approved by the Asset Management Association of China, allows foreign asset managers to create and sell funds investing in onshore stocks and bonds in China to local institutional and wealthy investors. This comes four years after South Korea’s third-largest asset management company with over 93 trillion won ($82 billion) in assets unde

MarketOct. 27, 2020

Doosan Mobility Innovation to break into overseas drone market

Doosan Mobility Innovation (DMI), a producer of portable fuel cell power packs for drones, said Tuesday it will make inroads overseas to expand its presence in the power cable-checking system. To that end, DMI signed a preliminary deal with the Korea Electric Power Research Institute (KEPRI), a R&D subsidiary of the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), the company said. Under the deal, both sides plan to share their patent technologies and sales networks, and KEPRI's automated p

EconomyOct. 27, 2020

Hanwha Energy wins $185m solar project in US

Hanwha Energy Corp., a South Korean renewable energy company, said Tuesday that it has won a project worth $185 million to build a solar power plant on Hawaii's most populated island of Oahu. Under the deal with Hawaiian Electric Co., Hanwha Energy is set to build the 60-megawatt solar facility and energy storage systems (ESS) with capacity of 240 megawatt hours (MWh) by 2023. ESS refers to energy saving procedures in large batteries for the efficient distribution of power. Hanwha Energy sai

IndustryOct. 27, 2020

[Newsmaker] Samsung heir may get promoted to chairman following father's passing

Speculation is growing over when Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong would take the position of chairman in South Korea's largest conglomerate following his father's death, industry insiders said Tuesday, though the heir has already been recognized as the tech giant's de facto leader. His father and a longtime Samsung Group head, Lee Kun-hee, died Sunday at age 78, more than six years after being hospitalized for a heart attack. Jae-yong, the eldest scion and the only son of the l

IndustryOct. 27, 2020

Corporate land ownership in S. Korea on steady rise

Corporate ownership of land in South Korea has been on a steady rise in recent years amid rising criticism of conglomerates' real estate investment, government data showed Tuesday. South Korean companies owned 6.953 square kilometers of land in 2019, up 1.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. It represents 11.3 percent of the country's total land area, up from a 10.1 percent share in 2012. Corporate land ownership had bee

EconomyOct. 27, 2020

Biz sentiment for Nov. improves amid eased virus restrictions: survey

Business sentiment in South Korea improved for November as domestic consumption expands on eased social distancing rules amid the coronavirus pandemic, a local think tank said Tuesday.   The business survey index (BSI) of the country's top 600 companies by sales came to 99.5 for November, up from the 84.6 for October, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said in a statement. "Eased social distancing rules have helped improve companies' profitability. But it's too early

EconomyOct. 27, 2020

Korea Zinc Inc Q3 net income up 7% to W170.4b

Korea Zinc Inc on Tuesday reported its third-quarter net income of 170.4 billion won ($150.9 million), up 7 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that operating profit for the July-September period rose 28 percent on-year to 267.4 billion won. Revenue increased 14.2 percent to 1.97 trillion won. The operating profit was 33.2 percent higher than the average estimate, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency. The esti

EconomyOct. 27, 2020

SK Telecom to open flagship store by collaborating with Apple and Microsoft

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest wireless provider, said Tuesday it will open a new flagship store by working with Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. The new store, named T Factory, in the trendy neighborhood of Hongik University in western Seoul, will open on Oct. 31, according to the carrier. SK Telecom said it is collaborating with the US tech giants and Samsung Electronics Co. to showcase their latest products and services, including the carrier's cloud gaming service, launched in Septemb

TechnologyOct. 27, 2020

Samsung Display wins US approval for panel shipment to Huawei: sources

Samsung Display Co., a major display panel maker in South Korea, has received approval from the US government to supply certain display products to Huawei Technologies Co., sources here said Tuesday, amid Washington's sanctions against the Chinese tech giant. Samsung Display recently acquired a license from the US Commerce Department to export some of its smartphone OLED displays to Huawei. Samsung Display is the world's largest smartphone OLED display supplier. The US started to impose new

IndustryOct. 27, 2020

Samsung Card Q3 net income up 41.1% to W128.1b

Samsung Card Co. on Tuesday reported its third-quarter net income of 128.1 billion won ($113.4 million), up 41.1 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 173.4 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 120.1 billion won a year ago. Sales fell 10.4 percent to 772.1 billion won. The operating profit was 22.2 percent higher than the average estimate, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Ag

EconomyOct. 27, 2020

Samsung SDS Q3 net up on record sales

Samsung SDS Co., an IT service unit of Samsung Group, on Tuesday reported strong third-quarter earnings as its quarterly sales reached a record high amid the pandemic. The company logged a third-quarter net profit of 161 billion won ($142.7 million), up 2.6 percent from a year earlier. Samsung SDS said its revenue jumped 11.7 percent on-year to 2.96 trillion won in the July-September period, its largest-ever quarterly sales. The company's operating income advanced 6.4 percent on-year to 219.8

TechnologyOct. 27, 2020

Seoul shares open lower on Wall Street losses

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday, tracking an overnight tumble on Wall Street amid concerns of a global resurgence in COVID-19 cases. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 7 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,336.91 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 650.19 points, or 2.29 percent, to close at 27,685.38 on Monday (US time). The sharp drop came after countries saw a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases over the past few days, with Fran

MarketOct. 27, 2020

Credit card loans jump 34% in Sept.

Credit card loans in South Korea soared more than 34 percent in September as cash-strapped people scrambled to borrow from card firms amid a protracted coronavirus outbreak, industry data showed Tuesday. New loans extended by seven credit card firms -- Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Woori, Hana, Samsung, Hyundai and Lotte -- reached 4.2 trillion won ($3.7 billion) last month, up 34.3 percent from a year earlier. September represents the second-consecutive month of an on-year increase following an 11.7 p

EconomyOct. 27, 2020

S. Korea's economy returns to growth in Q3 as pandemic-caused trade slump eases

South Korea's economy returned to modest growth in the third quarter, marking the first quarterly expansion since the coronavirus pandemic began, as exports showed signs of improvement, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Tuesday. In the July-September period, the nation's real gross domestic product (GDP) grew 1.9 percent from the previous quarter, when it shrank 3.2 percent, according to the BOK data. The third-quarter reading marked the fastest expansion since the first quarter of 2010. Compare

EconomyOct. 27, 2020

S. Korea's Oct. exports tipped to fall 3.12%: poll

South Korea's exports are expected to decrease 3.12 percent on-year in October after enjoying a brief rebound the previous month, due mainly to the resurgence of new coronavirus cases around the globe.   The country's outbound shipments are estimated to reach $45.1 billion this month, according to the poll by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency. The survey was conducted on seven local brokerage houses.   Imports were estimated to reach $41.3 billion

EconomyOct. 27, 2020

Naver, CJ sign share-swap deal in strategic tie-up

South Korea's top online portal operator Naver and entertainment and logistics giant CJ Group signed a share-swap deal Monday in a strategic tie-up to boost their competitive edge in the e-commerce and entertainment industries, officials said. Under the deal worth 600 billion won ($531 million), Naver will acquire a 7.85 percent stake in CJ Logistics Corp., a parcel delivery company, a 5 percent stake in entertainment giant CJ ENM Corp. and a 6.26 percent stake in Studio Dragon, a drama produc

TechnologyOct. 26, 2020

YouTube ranks as fifth most trustworthy media in South Korea: survey

  YouTube ranked as the fifth most trustworthy media in South Korea in the third quarter, beating other traditional local outlets, a survey showed Monday. The state-run broadcaster KBS topped the list with 17.7 percent trust level in the survey conducted by Kantar Korea, a research firm, and commissioned by KBS, from Sept. 24-26 on 1,009 adults across the country. Public broadcaster MBC came in second with 10.6 percent, followed by two cable channels, JTBC with 7.9 percent and TV Chosun w

TechnologyOct. 26, 2020

Woori Financial posts better-than-expected Q3 net profit

Woori Financial Group said Monday that its third-quarter net profit dropped 1.13 percent on-year to 479.8 billion won ($425 million), but was above market expectations amid coronavirus woes. Local brokerages had projected an average 468.7 billion won for Woori’s third-quarter net profit. 　 The figure was calculated based on the respective sizes of the stakes Woori holds in its units. Under the premise that Woori holds 100 percent stake in all of its units, the figure would amount to 521

MarketOct. 26, 2020

[Photo News] BMW Driving Center celebrates 1 million visitors

BMW Korea said Monday its BMW Driving Center in Yeongjongdo, Incheon celebrated an accumulated 1 million visitors, since opening in August 2014. The BMW Driving Center offers various hands-on programs, such as test-drives on its 2.6-kilometer driving track and education courses for children.  The center in Yeongjongdo is the company‘s first to be built in Asia and the third in the world, after Germany and the US, the company said. Written by Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)

MobilityOct. 26, 2020