S-Oil Q3 net soars elevenfold on strong petrochem sales

S-Oil Corp., South Korea's No. 3 oil refiner, said Thursday its net income surged by elevenfold in the third quarter from a year earlier, driven by strong sales of petrochemical and lube base oil products. Net income came to 334.5 billion won ($285 million) in the July-September period, compared with 30.3 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit reached 549.4 billion won, swinging to black from an operating loss of 9.2 billion won the previous year.

IndustryOct. 28, 2021

Seoul stocks open slightly higher on tech advance

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Thursday on advances in tech shares, which fueled hopes of a strong earnings report season. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) added 5.68 points, or 0.19 percent, to 3,031.17 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks opened nearly flat amid the tussle between the expectations of strong quarterly gains and concerns over rising price pressure. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.74 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq

MarketOct. 28, 2021

Samsung logs record sales, 3-year-high operating profit in Q3 on buoyant chip biz

Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday reported strong third-quarter earnings on the continued robust performance of its key semiconductor business. Its net profit rose 31.3 percent from a year earlier to 12.29 trillion won ($10.5 billion) in the July-September period, the world's largest memory chip and smartphone vendor said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit jumped 28 percent in the third quarter to 15.82 trillion won, the largest since the third quarter of 2018. Sales hit a quarterly re

IndustryOct. 28, 2021

SMEs take up absolute majority of firms in S. Korea

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for an absolute majority of businesses in South Korea, with their workforces taking up nearly 83 percent of all corporate employees, data showed Thursday. As of 2019, smaller firms in Asia's fourth-largest economy numbered 6.89 million, up 3.8 percent from a year earlier and accounting for 99.9 percent of all companies here, according to the data from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. The number of their employees stood at 17.44 million, up 2

IndustryOct. 28, 2021

[Awards] Incheon Free Economic Zone communicates with globe

INCHEON FREE ECONOMIC ZONE AUTHORITY By Kim Jae-beom Director of media & culture division I am very glad to see the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority being recognized at The Korea Herald Marketing Awards, hosted by the nation’s No. 1 English news daily. The prize is significantly meaningful, as I believe that our efforts and passion toward the vision of a “global business frontier” is eventually acknowledged by the paper. Being designated as Korea’s first free

IndustryOct. 28, 2021

Hyundai Mobis promotes ‘green acceleration’ management for carbon-neutral goal

Hyundai Mobis, the auto parts making affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group, has adopted a “Green Acceleration” strategy to promote environmentally friendly business management for future generations and the Earth, the company said Wednesday. According to Hyundai Mobis, it is working to reduce carbon emissions while managing harmful substances in the overall process of manufacturing, to maximize the positive effects to support the environment. Already having a portfolio of core auto p

IndustryOct. 27, 2021

Citibank’s retail business closure not subject to regulator’s approval: FSC

The policymaking Financial Services Commission said Wednesday that Citibank Korea’s plans to gradually phase out its consumer banking operations are not subject to the regulator’s authorization.  “According to the current banking act, Citibank Korea‘s withdrawal of retail business in phases is not regarded as a ‘shutdown of banking business,’ which falls under the FSC‘s approval,” the authority said in a statement, which indicates the forei

MarketOct. 27, 2021

Online mall SSG.com picks IPO managers as it eyes 2022 listing

SSG.com, the e-commerce arm of South Korean retail giant Shinsegae Group, said Wednesday it has selected managers for its initial public offering with a goal to make a market debut in 2022. According to the officials, the company chose Mirae Asset Securities and Citigroup Global Markets Korea Securities as the lead underwriters of its IPO deal, with Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. also joining as members of the underwriter group. The exact size of the deal and the date of listing

MarketOct. 27, 2021

Starbucks to provide free barista training to youth

Starbucks Korea will provide free barista training to as many as 200 young job seekers next year, as part of a government project to tackle youth joblessness. The coffee chain inked a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Employment and Labor on Wednesday to participate in the ministry’s “Youth Employment Support Project.”  The project aims to promote companies to provide work experiences and various job training programs for young job seekers. Starbucks is

ConsumerOct. 27, 2021

Nexon’s Blue Archive: Mobile game for anime fans by anime fans

Never trust a skinny chef. The sentiment behind this tongue-in-cheek reference to a chef’s inability to resist his own delicious food applies to most professions, including game developers. Nexon’s Blue Archive, an anime-style role-playing game, immediately stole the hearts of anime fans after its February release in Japan, even ranking as the most popular game on both Google Play and App Store. Perhaps the game’s success was a predestined one, considering it was developed b

IndustryOct. 27, 2021

[Avertising Awards] Dunamu’s campaign promotes sound digital asset market, investor protection

We are honored to receive the 2021 Korea Herald Advertising Awards with our “Appropriate Digital Asset Investment Campaign” by the Upbit Investor Protection Center. The Appropriate Digital Asset Investment Campaign is very meaningful in that it is the first official activity of the tentatively named, upcoming Upbit Investor Protection Center and the industry’s first mass campaign efforts to enhance self-purification. As a leader in the digital asset market, Dunamu has put va

MarketOct. 27, 2021

Kolmar Korea inks deal to purchase stake in local beauty platform operator

Kolmar Korea, a cosmetics and health care company based in Seoul, has made a strategic investment in a beauty platform operator in a bid to target Millennial and Generation Z consumers in the local beauty market. According to its announcement on Wednesday, the company purchased an 11 percent stake in Pawcompany. Established in 2003, Pawcompany operates online beauty community Powder Room. The platform currently has 3.7 million members and has held marketing projects with 5,400 beauty firms t

TechnologyOct. 27, 2021

S. Korea approves phase 2, 3 trials of Genencell’s COVID-19 treatment

South Korean biotech firm Genencell said Wednesday that the company received approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for mid- and late-stage trials of its COVID-19 treatment candidate ES16001. ES16001 is an oral COVID-19 drug candidate made with natural ingredients extracted from the leaves of Elaeocarpus sylvestris native to Korea. Genencell has developed the treatment candidate in collaboration with the College of Life Sciences at Kyung Hee University. Genencell currently plans

TechnologyOct. 27, 2021

Changes in share ownership show power transitions in chaebol: survey

Descendants of South Korea’s conglomerate founders have inherited more shares and strengthened their control on the companies in recent years, data showed Wednesday, indicating a generational power transfer within the family-controlled businesses. According to local corporate tracker CEO Score, of all family-owned shares from 60 conglomerates, the percentage of the children’s shares in value surged to 43.6 percent as of October, up 9.7 percentage points from 33.9 percent in 2019. T

MarketOct. 27, 2021

[Advertising Awards] SK Innovation’s ‘ESG’ campaign embeds future vision

MARKETING AWARDS / GOLD PRIZE SK INNOVATION By Lim Su-kil Head of SK Innovation Value Creation Center SK Innovation pursues the “Green Balance 2030” initiative to seek growth through an eco-friendly business management strategy. We would like to express our gratitude to all who supported the public relations campaign “SK Innovation Going ESG.” As the ESG paradigm is becoming mainstream across the globe, a company that neglects environmental issues, hesitates to walk t

IndustryOct. 27, 2021

LG Chem to set up battery separator plant in Hungary with Japan's Toray

LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's leading chemical company, said Wednesday it will build a battery separator production plant in Hungary with Japanese chemical giant Toray Industries Inc. as part of efforts to expand its presence in the European market. Under the 50:50 joint venture deal, the two companies will invest over a combined 1 trillion won ($854.7 million), aiming for annual production of 800 million square meters of separators, the key component used in rechargeable batteries, by 2028, LG C

IndustryOct. 27, 2021

[Newsmaker] Once promising testbed, Seoul now a doomed city for e-scooters

One by one, electric scooter operators are leaving South Korea, once hailed as a perfect testbed for last-mile mobility innovation. According to industry sources Wednesday, German e-scooter operator Wind, which entered the Korean market in 2019, recently called it quits. Another e-scooter firm Gcooter halted services starting this month in three districts of Seoul -- Yeongdeungpo-gu, Dongjak-gu and Gwanak-gu -- where e-scooters are most frequently towed. As to why they are packing their bag

IndustryOct. 27, 2021

[Advertising Awards] Following footprint of batteries to trace beginnings of LG Energy Solution

CORPORATE PR AWARDS / GRAND PRIZE LG Energy Solution By Sung Hwan-doo Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Affairs Group I want to say many thanks to the judges and members of The Korea Herald for this award. This year, LG Energy Solution made a new leap forward. And we are extremely happy to receive the Corporate PR Grand Prize at this crucial time when we are conveying our image as a company to the public for the first time. The secondary cell business has undoubtedly become one of

IndustryOct. 27, 2021

Seoul stocks slump as investors take profit amid earnings peak-out worries

South Korean stocks retreated Wednesday as investors attempted to cash in gains amid concerns that the corporate earnings may wane after a strong third quarter. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 23.59 points, or 0.77 percent, to close at 3,025.49 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 598 million shares worth some 10.1 trillion won (US$8.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 626 to 232. Foreigners sold a net 2

MarketOct. 27, 2021

LG Display posts strong Q3 earnings on robust panel demand, OLED biz

LG Display Co., South Korea's major display panel maker, said Wednesday that its third-quarter net income surged 4,067.5 percent from a year earlier to 463.5 billion won ($396.1 million), largely driven by strong demand and profitability of its OLED business. Operating income jumped 221.8 percent to 528.9 billion won in the three months ending in September, 17.3 percent lower than previously expected. Sales rose 7.2 percent on-year to 7.22 trillion won. Continued growth in pandemic-led demand

IndustryOct. 27, 2021