S. Korea to face further market shock in Q2 amid COVID-19 pandemic

After marking the steepest contraction in more than a decade amid the new coronavirus fallout, South Korea’s economy is likely to confront further shocks over the upcoming months, financial authorities warned Thursday. “The production indexes for private consumption and service industries have hit their worst level since the (global) financial crisis,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said in a meeting of economy-related ministers in Seoul. “The

EconomyApril 23, 2020

ICT Ministry hosts ‘untact’ IR for startups

The Ministry of Science and ICT on Thursday held an online conference to match local information and communication technology startups with investors. The event, titled “Untact IR” in reference to the trend for non-face-to-face contact, is a weekly online conference that has been hosted by the ministry since April 9 and is designed to increase exchanges between investors and companies amid the viral outbreak. During the three-hour online conference, local firms promoted their busi

TechnologyApril 23, 2020

NPS forecasts W25tr stock market loss

The state-run National Pension Service could lose up to 25 trillion won ($20.3 billion) from its investments in the South Korean stock market this year, local reports said on Thursday.　 A asset management report compiled in late January showed that the maximum amount of potential losses of the overall financial assets stood at 40.8 trillion won as of late January, which amounts to 53.6 percent of a limit of 76.2 trillion won. The figure increased by 300 billion won from late November. Poten

MarketApril 23, 2020

[News Focus] 1.27 million young Koreans de facto out of work

SEJONG -- The COVID-19 disaster has added to mass youth unemployment, which had already been a critical social issue over the past few years. According to the Supplementary Index for Employment III, held by Statistics Korea, de facto unemployment for those aged 15-29 reached 1.272 million among the extended-based economically active population of 4.785 million. This figure means a surge by about 225,000 people in only two months, compared to January, when the tally stood at 1.047 million. T

EconomyApril 23, 2020

Hyundai Motor launches ‘quieter, stronger’ 2020 Sonata

Hyundai Motor Group’s steady-selling sedan the Sonata has been upgraded with “quieter, stronger” features for 2020, the automaker said Thursday.  The company said it has applied thicker fixed glass to the front row and windshield molding that surrounds the vehicle, for a quieter driving experience. On the gasoline 2.0 model, the company additionally applied double-glaze glass to minimize road noise in the car. Also, Hyundai Motor said it has changed the gearshift patter

MobilityApril 23, 2020

Hyundai starts to sweat from pandemic woes

Hyundai Motor Group posted a mixed earnings report Thursday, with a rise in operating profit overshadowed by the effects of the novel coronavirus.  The carmaker said its first-quarter sales amounted to 25.3 trillion won ($20.5 billion) and operating profit 863.8 billion won, having respectively risen by 5.6 percent and 4.7 percent on-year amid product improvement and the weak Korean won.  But currency factors also weighed on the auto giant’s net profit, which plunged 42.1 perc

MobilityApril 23, 2020

Seoul stocks up for 2nd day on rebounding oil prices

South Korean stocks ended higher for the second straight session Thursday on improved investor sentiment over rebounding oil prices. The Korean won gained ground against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 18.58 points, or 0.98 percent, to 1,914.73. Institutions bought a net 99.5 billion won ($81 million) worth of stocks, offsetting combined net sell-offs valued at 121.3 billion won by foreigners and individuals. Foreigners continued to offload local s

MarketApril 23, 2020

Listed firms' dividend payouts drop 2.9% in 2019

South Korean listed firms' dividend payouts fell nearly 2.9 percent from a year earlier in 2019 amid sluggish earnings, the bourse operator said Wednesday. Combined dividend payments by 528 out of the 761 companies closing their books in December came to 20.7 trillion won last year, down 2.88 percent from the previous year, according to the Korea Exchange (KRX). The number of companies that paid cash dividends was down from the 545 recorded the previous year. Their average payout ratio, refe

EconomyApril 23, 2020

Korea to inject emergency funds into five key industries hit by pandemic

South Korea on Thursday decided to inject emergency funds into the nation’s five key industries -- automobiles, aviation, shipping, shipbuilding and oil refineries -- that are facing a liquidity crisis since the outbreak of the new coronavirus. It discussed customized support measures for each industry at the crisis management meeting led by Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki as a follow-up measures to President Moon Jae-in’s announcement of a 40 trillion won ($32.5 billion) worth relie

IndustryApril 23, 2020

Sales of Samsung Bioepis' 3 biosimilars reach $200 million in Europe in Q1

South Korean drugmaker Samsung Bioepis Co. said Thursday that sales of its three biosimilar products posted a record high of $200 million in Europe during the first quarter. Combined sales of the three autoimmune biosimilars -- Benepali, Flixabi and Imraldi -- came to $219 million in the January-March period, up 25 percent from the same period a year earlier. The company cited a first-quarter earnings report of its US partner Biogen. Samsung Bioepis is a joint venture between Samsung Biologic

IndustryApril 23, 2020

Korea's daily FX turnover hits record high in Q1

The daily foreign exchange (FX) turnover by local and foreign banks in South Korea reached an all-time high in the first quarter of the year amid the coronavirus outbreak, central bank data showed Thursday. The daily FX turnover came to an average $59.37 billion in the January-March period, up 9.2 percent from the previous quarter, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The amount marks the highest since 2008, when the central bank began tracking related data. The central bank s

EconomyApril 23, 2020

Testing kit maker Solgent gears up for IPO

South Korean genetic technology firm Solgent has picked local brokerage Mirae Asset Daewoo as an underwriter for its initial public offering, buoyed by sales of its diagnostic kits for the novel coronavirus, the company said Thursday. The Daejeon-based company and the underwriter are in the nascent stages of the IPO process, which precedes its listing on the development bourse Kosdaq. Details as to when the company will be listed and which option it will go for have yet to be determined. &ldqu

MarketApril 23, 2020

SK hynix reports earnings surprise amid high server demand

SK hynix, the second-largest memory chipmaker in the world, announced an earnings surprise Thursday, with a 239 percent on-quarter increase in its operating profit in the first quarter. Despite concerns about a coronavirus downturn in the global economy, the South Korean chipmaker posted 7.19 trillion won ($6.4 billion) in sales and 800.3 billion own in operating profit during the January to March period, according to its regulatory filing. Its net profit stood at 649.1 billion won. Compar

TechnologyApril 23, 2020

[Monitor] Korea’s exports dip in April

South Korea’s exports dropped 27 percent on-year in the first 20 days of April due to the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic, data from the Korea Customs Service showed. By segment, exports of memory chips fell 14.9 percent, while those of automobiles sank 28.5 percent during the period compared to a year ago. By country, shipments to China dropped 17 percent, while those for the United States dropped 17.5 percent. Exports to the European Union and Vietnam fell further by 32.6

IndustryApril 23, 2020

Antitrust watchdog approves Jeju Air-Eastar Jet merger

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog has approved low-cost airline Jeju Air’s takeover of the management of struggling Eastar Jet, officials said Thursday. Early last month, Jeju Air signed a deal with Eastar Holdings, the largest shareholder of Eastar Jet, to acquire the airline for 54.5 billion won ($45 million). The firm acquired 4,971,000 common shares for a 51.17 percent stake. “The Fair Trade Commission conducted the review as promptly as possible, considering the circu

MobilityApril 23, 2020

Seoul stocks open higher on rebounding oil prices

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, as investors took some comfort from rebounding oil prices and signs of a slowdown in the coronavirus pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 10.34 points, or 0.55 percent, to 1,906.49 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The main index ended up 0.9 percent at 1,896.15 on Wednesday after shedding 1.8 percent in the previous two sessions. The KOSPI's rebound will be limited, howe

MarketApril 23, 2020

Finance minister warns coronavirus may have bigger impact on economy in Q2

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday the coronavirus pandemic is expected to have a bigger impact on the nation's economy in the second quarter, as the virus has crippled global supply chains and consumer demand. Hong made the remarks shortly after the Bank of Korea reported that South Korea's economy shrank 1.4 percent on-quarter in the first quarter of this year, marking the sharpest quarterly contraction since the fourth quarter of 2008. The first-quarter gross domestic product (GD

EconomyApril 23, 2020

S. Korea to inject W1.25tr to help virus-hit shippers

South Korea said Thursday it will inject 1.25 trillion won ($1 billion) to help cash-strapped shipping firms hurt by the global new coronavirus pandemic, which has been disrupting business activities and trade of goods. "The shipping firms are expected to suffer more serious damage after the second quarter, considering the time lapse between the global economic turmoil and the decline in their performances," Oceans Minister Moon Seong-hyeok said. "Thus, South Korea plans to pro

IndustryApril 23, 2020

S. Korean economy shrinks 1.4% in Q1 amid virus fallout, sharpest contraction since 2008

South Korea's economy shrank 1.4 percent on-quarter in the first quarter of this year, as the coronavirus pandemic crippled industrial output, consumer spending and job markets, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Thursday. It marked the sharpest quarterly contraction since the fourth quarter of 2008, when the nation's economy sank 3.3 percent on-quarter. The first-quarter gross domestic product, however, was above market expectations. A survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of

EconomyApril 23, 2020

Samsung C&T Q1 net jumps 56% on equity gains

Samsung C&T, a construction affiliate of Samsung Group, said Wednesday its first-quarter net profit jumped 55.8 percent from a year earlier due to profitable overseas projects and shareholding gains from its affiliate. Net profit for the three months ending March 31 stood at 346.5 billion won ($281 million) from 222.4 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. "Increased equity gains from Samsung Biologics and profitable overseas projects boosted the first

IndustryApril 22, 2020