HDC’s Asiana Airlines takeover postponed

Midsized construction company HDC Hyundai Development Company said Wednesday that it has postponed the schedule to complete the acquisition of Asiana Airlines, as more time is needed for the conditions precedent to be met, including a delayed foreign regulator’s approval. HDC said in a regulatory filing that the acquisition date has been resettled from April 30 to “a date agreed by both parties.”  A HDC official told The Korea Herald that the deal closing date can be af

MobilityApril 29, 2020

[News Focus] Hyundai Motor banks on domestic market to minimize COVID-19 fallout

Hit by the unprecedented economic impact of the coronavirus epidemic, the country’s largest automaker, Hyundai Motor Group, is moving to focus on increasing domestic sales to recover from weakened exports. The strategy, also taken by other smaller automakers, is expected to further intensify the local market, according to industry sources. According to Hyundai Motor Group, it would reorganize the production schedule and supply of popular models.  Hyundai Motor Group Executive Dire

MobilityApril 29, 2020

WeWork opens 20th location in Korea

Shared working space platform WeWork said Wednesday that it had opened a 20th location in South Korea. The location in Apro Square, WeWork Shinnonhyeon, is the 12th in Seoul’s affluent Gangnam area, according to WeWork’s Korean unit. The news came over a year after its announcement in March 2019. This is the first location opened since WeWork Korea named Patricia Chun as its new general manager earlier in April. “We have strong belief in Korea as we see the growing demand f

MarketApril 29, 2020

Seoul stocks end up for 3rd day on earnings hope

South Korean stocks ended higher for a third straight session Wednesday as investor sentiment was buoyed by expectations about robust earnings by US tech firms. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 13.47 points, or 0.70 percent, to close at 1,947.56. Trade volume was moderate at 1.97 billion shares worth 10.4 trillion won ($8.5 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 570 to 272. Investors await further earnings results fr

MarketApril 29, 2020

US-based Psomagen eyes at least W57.5b IPO in Korea

Psomagen, a US company dedicated to genome sequencing technology and DNA testing, said Wednesday it looks to raise at least 57.5 billion won ($47.2 million) in an initial public offering on the Korean bourse. Under the plan to be listed on Kosdaq, Psomagen seeks to issue 4.2 million new common shares, amounting to a 25 percent stake, and offer them to investors in an IPO set to take place in May. Shinhan Investment is an underwriter of the IPO deal. The IPO proceeds will be used to boost its

MarketApril 29, 2020

Samsung braces for tougher Q2

Samsung Electronics said Wednesday the company is bracing for bigger adversities from the COVID-19 crisis, anticipating sharper falls in sales of some products. In its first quarter earnings announcement, the South Korean tech giant posted 6.45 trillion won ($5.29 billion) in operating profit, growing 3.43 percent from a year earlier. The company’s sales stood at 55.33 trillion won, up 5.61 percent from the same period last year. But its net profit dropped 3.15 percent to 4.88 trillion

TechnologyApril 29, 2020

[Herald Interview] Boosting ‘K-quarantine’ drive by safeguarding patent rights of Korean testing kit

Amid growing global demand to learn South Korea’s unique quarantine methods that have contributed to bringing the novel coronavirus under control, the nation’s patent office said Tuesday that it will closely work with overseas partners to share its know-how while protecting intellectual property rights of Korean testing kits and other related products at the same time. “The homegrown COVID-19 testing kits are seeing a soaring demand from across the globe, because companies tha

MarketApril 29, 2020

Consumer financing firms’ 2019 net up 5.7%

Consumer financing firms in South Korea saw their combined net profit gain 5.7 percent in 2019 from a year earlier on the back of a robust gain in interest income, data showed Wednesday. The combined net profit of 107 credit financial firms stood at 2.05 trillion won ($1.68 billion) in 2019, up 111.2 billion won from a year earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Their interest income rose 6.7 percent on-year to 5.66 trillion won in 2019, the data showed.

EconomyApril 29, 2020

ABS issuance sharply up in Q1

The issuance of asset-backed securities (ABS) in South Korea surged in the first quarter from a year earlier due mainly to a hike in sales of mortgage-backed securities, the financial watchdog said Wednesday. A combined 22.7 trillion won ($18.5 billion) worth of ABS was issued in the January-March period, up 12.9 trillion won from the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). ABS are backed by underlying assets, such as auto loans, home loans, credit card receivable

EconomyApril 29, 2020

BOK expands pilot program to go coinless

The Bank of Korea (BOK) has signed an agreement with major local retailers to further expand its pilot program to go coinless, the bank said Wednesday. Under the memorandum of understanding, signed Tuesday, convenience store chains E-Mart 24 and Ministop will now deposit any change left from cash purchases directly to customers' bank accounts when requested, according to the BOK. The agreement adds more than 7,000 convenience stores to the list of places where such services are available, alo

EconomyApril 29, 2020

[Monitor] Global automakers’ sales, profits decline

Sales and profits of global automakers declined over the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis, market data showed Tuesday. With European countries like France having gone into lockdown in the first quarter, French automaker Renault Group recorded 19.2 percent fall in their sales from January to February, compared to the previous year. German automaker BMW also saw its sales dwindle by 20.6 percent, while other German carmakers Daimler Group and Volkswagen saw their operating profits plumme

MobilityApril 29, 2020

[Graphic News] Exports of coronavirus test kits jump this month

　South Korea’s exports of coronavirus test kits jumped on-year in the first 20 days of this month, data showed. 　Exports of test kits stood at $131.9 million in the 20-day period, compared with $7.25 million for the same period last year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. 　So far this year, Korea has exported test kits to a total of 106 nations. 　Brazil, the top buyer, imported $19.2 million worth of test kits from Korea. Next were the United States and Italy.

IndustryApril 29, 2020

Seoul stocks open almost flat on overnight US losses

South Korean stocks opened almost unchanged Tuesday on overnight losses in Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) inched up 2.18 points, or 0.11 percent, to 1,936.27 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Tuesday (local time), US stocks gave up earlier gains to end lower on tech losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.13 percent, the S&P 500 was down 0.52 percent, and the Nasdaq composite index decreased 1.4 percent. Most large-cap shares on the Seou

MarketApril 29, 2020

Korea's industrial output falls 0.3% in March amid virus pandemic

SEJONG -- South Korea's overall industrial output fell 0.3 percent in March from a month earlier, data showed Wednesday, as the coronavirus pandemic hit exports and private consumption. The data compiled by Statistics Korea, however, showed production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries rose 4.6 percent from a month earlier. From a year earlier, overall industrial output also gained 0.6 percent. The output in the service sector declined 4.4 percent on-month, markin

EconomyApril 29, 2020

Samsung expects weak results after solid Q1 performance on chip biz

Samsung Electronics Co. on Wednesday delivered a solid first-quarter earnings performance on the back of its chip business despite the coronavirus outbreak, but the company expected its bottom line to go down in the current quarter as the pandemic will significantly affect demand for some of its key products. The world's leading memory chip and smartphone manufacturer said its operating income increased 3.43 percent on-year to 6.4 trillion won ($5.2 billion) in the January-March period, and sa

IndustryApril 29, 2020

SK Innovation to build 2nd EV battery plant in US

SK Innovation Co., South Korea's leading refiner and chemical company, said Tuesday that it will invest $727 million in building its second electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in the United States. The investment in SK Battery America, which is wholly owned by SK Innovation, is meant to further boost production of EV batteries to meet soaring demand for all-electric vehicles amid a global push for zero emissions. The EV battery market has been on a roll as automakers around the world race to

IndustryApril 28, 2020

Mirae Asset faces legal battle over $5.8b hotel deal

Mirae Asset Global Investments said Tuesday that Chinese insurer Anbang Insurance had not fulfilled all the requirements needed to close a $5.8 billion deal, and it was waiting for the latter to give an official explanation. Countering the Chinese insurer’s claim that the Korean firm had reneged on its obligations to closing the deal on April 17, Mirae Asset said it discovered an ongoing legal dispute between the seller and a third party while conducting due diligence on the deal. Mirae

MarketApril 28, 2020

KDB, K-Growth vow W2.5tr growth capital with 18 partners

Policy lender Korea Development Bank and fund-of-funds investment firm Korea Growth Investment Corp. said Tuesday they have selected 18 external partners to inject a total of 2.5 trillion won ($2.05 billion) in growth capital to support the scaling up of venture companies here. Of the total of the latest batch, a combined 830 billion won will be backed by state-run financial institutions including KDB, while 50 billion won will come from the state budget. This marks the latest addition to KDB

MarketApril 28, 2020

Koramco closes W134b fund to invest in pre-IPO REITs

Korean real estate investment firm Koramco Asset Management said Tuesday it has signed a combined 134 billion won ($109.5 million) in commitments to its two blind-pool funds to capitalize on the potential of the nation’s growing properties market. Mainly targeting real estate investment trusts that eye initial public offerings here, the funds received commitments by undisclosed institutional investors and corporate investors. A REIT refers to a company that owns income-generating commerc

MarketApril 28, 2020

‘Lime bad bank’ to start in May, sanction process in June: FSS chief

South Korea’s financial watchdog said Tuesday it plans to establish a bad bank in May to help companies recoup their losses from the troubled funds sold by Lime Asset Management. Citing the recent buying binge by retail stock investors here, Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Yoon Suk-heun urged them to be cautious about the excessive preference for high-risk and high-return investments amid the low-growth, low-interest rate environment. “During the remaining period of my term,

MarketApril 28, 2020