Kakao Q2 net income down 68% to W101.2b

Kakao Corp. on Thursday reported its second-quarter net income of 101.2 billion won ($77.2 million), down 68 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that operating income for the April-June period rose 5.2 percent on-year to 171 billion won. Revenue increased 34.8 percent to 1.82 trillion won. The earnings failed to meet market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 145 billion won, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financi

IndustryAug. 4, 2022

Seoul shares open higher on US gains

Seoul shares opened higher Thursday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, as jitters over US-China tension, caused by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit, eased somewhat. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 8.91 points, or 0.36 percent, to trade at 2,470.36 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.29 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.59 percent on firm economic data showing the world's largest eco

MarketAug. 4, 2022

‘Big hike’ could drag down housing prices by 2.8%: BOK

Home prices could drop as much as 2.8 percent in two years once the Bank of Korea raises its policy rate by a full percentage point or 100 basis points, the central bank said in a report Wednesday. The report, which focused on analyzing how a rate change affects home prices without studying factors like mortgage rules and new supply, comes as Seoul apartment prices kept falling for the last nine weeks. Last week Seoul saw its largest weekly drop since April 2020, according to the Korea Real Est

EconomyAug. 3, 2022

6 Korean firms join cross-border carbon capture, storage project

Six Korean energy companies will join hands with Malaysia’s state-run energy company, Petroliam Nasional Berhad, to launch a cross-border project that transports carbon captured in South Korea to Malaysia for storage, the firms said Wednesday. For the project named Shepherd CCS, the six companies, SK Energy, SK Earthon, Samsung Engineering, Samsung Heavy Industries, Lotte Chemical and GS Energy, signed a memorandum of understanding with Petroliam Nasional Berhad, commonly known as Petron

IndustryAug. 3, 2022

Top Korean banks face flak for profiting from surging rates

Top commercial banks have come under fire for increasingly denying customer requests to lower their interest rate repayments, while profiting heavily from of their lending programs, data showed Wednesday. The growing criticism comes as borrowers have been facing heavier debt repayment burdens in recent months, with lenders keeping their borrowing rates in pace with the central bank’s aggressive rate hikes. Last year, the top five commercial banks -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and

MarketAug. 3, 2022

Middle East contributes most to Korea’s trade deficit

SEJONG -- The Middle East was found to have contributed the most to South Korea’s all-time high trade deficit for the first seven months of the year, state data showed Wednesday, reflecting the export-driven economy’s ongoing high reliance on crude oil.　 According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Korea suffered a cumulative deficit of $51.7 billion in trade with countries in the Middle East during the period of January-July. The figure was higher by 244 percent, compa

EconomyAug. 3, 2022

LG Energy Solution to produce 100% with renewable energy from 2025

LG Energy Solution said Wednesday it will run its production facilities around the world 100 percent with renewable energy from 2025 as part of efforts to meet its 2050 carbon neutrality goals. The world’s second-largest battery maker for electric vehicles renewed its commitment to the RE100 initiative in its recent report on environment, social and corporate governance. As of 2020, the company’s renewable energy transition rate stood at 33 percent, the highest among a total 14 S

IndustryAug. 3, 2022

Seoul shares end higher amid woes over fallout from Pelosi's Taiwan visit

Seoul shares ended higher on gains in automakers and battery makers on Wednesday, with investors eyeing the fallout from US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan amid global recession worries. The South Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 21.83 points, or 0.89 percent, to close at 2,461.45 points. Trading volume was moderate at 463.71 million shares worth 6.6 trillion won ($5.03 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers

MarketAug. 3, 2022

[Photo News] It's going down

A signboard at a gas station in Seoul shows decreased gasoline and diesel prices on Wednesday. The nationwide barometer fell on Tuesday to 1,881.75 won ($1.44) and 1,969.64 won per liter, respectively, according to data provided on the Korea National Oil Corporation‘s Oil Price Information Network. South Korea saw a 12.2 percent and 9.1 percent decrease in gasoline and diesel prices, respectively, from its peak price of 2,144.90 won and 2,167.66 won in late June.

IndustryAug. 3, 2022

Car-sharing platform SoCar to go public this month

South Korean car-sharing company SoCar said Wednesday it planned to debut in the nation‘s benchmark Kospi to expand its footing in the mobility industry worth 350 trillion won (267.6 billion) and growing. The company will decide soon whether to float 4.55 million shares or not on Aug. 22 after testing the water with the two-day preliminary proceedings scheduled on Thursday and Friday. The preferred share price is set between 34,000 won and 45,000 won. The main underwriter is Mirae A

MobilityAug. 3, 2022

Carmakers expand reach to e-bikes

Global carmakers are penetrating the electric bicycle market, taking advantage of its value as a test bed for the future technology of electric vehicles while rounding out their e-mobility portfolios. Experts note that both e-bikes and EVs have motors and batteries as their core parts, and also shared parts of their design structure. This gives carmakers a great leg up in the e-bike market, which is still in its nascent stage with no clear market leader.  “When the finished carmake

MobilityAug. 3, 2022

Samsung rolls out futuristic memory, storage tech tailored to big data

Memory chip giant Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it unveiled a set of next-generation memory and storage technologies to better address various client demands for handling big data. Choi Jin-hyeok, executive vice president of memory solution and product development at Samsung Electronics, told an audience at the Flash Memory Summit 2022 that the array of technologies, including “perabyte storage,” “memory-semantic solid state drive” and “telemetry” is cru

TechnologyAug. 3, 2022

Samsung, 5 other S. Korean firms to work with Malaysian energy firm for carbon capture storage project

Samsung Engineering Co. and five other South Korean companies have teamed up with Malaysia's state energy company Petroliam Nasional Berhad to work on a project to capture, transport and store carbon dioxide, an emerging technology for emissions reduction. Under a memorandum of understanding signed in a virtual meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, the companies said they plan to carry out a feasibility study to assess the practicality of the project. The five South Korean companies are SK En

IndustryAug. 3, 2022

Daughter of late Samsung chairman tapped as advisor to Samsung Global Research

A daughter of late Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee was tapped as an advisor to Samsung's global research center, sources said Wednesday. Lee Seo-hyun, Lee Kun-hee's second daughter, will work as an advisor to the corporate social responsibility team at Samsung Global Research. The CSR team is dedicated to developing policies to fulfill Samsung's social responsibilities. She is currently overseeing the Samsung Welfare Foundation, founded by her father, and leads the adviso

IndustryAug. 3, 2022

[Graphic News] Korea’s ICT exports climb 18.9% in H1 to set fresh six-month record

　South Korea’s exports of information and communication technology products in the first half of 2022 soared 18.9 percent on-year to set a new semiannual record tally, thanks to brisk overseas demand for chips and computer products, data showed. 　Outbound shipments of ICT products came to $122.6 billion in the January-June period, up from the $103 billion tally a year earlier, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT. 　It marked the highest-ever semiannual tally sin

BusinessAug. 3, 2022

Hybe Q2 net income up 358.1% to W93b

Hybe Co. on Wednesday reported its second-quarter net profit of 93 billion won ($70.8 million), up 358.1 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 88.3 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 28 billion won a year ago. Sales rose 83.8 percent to 512.2 billion won. The earnings beat market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 61.7 billion won, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial

IndustryAug. 3, 2022

LG Energy Solution to run global operations only on renewable energy from 2025

LG Energy Solution Ltd. said Wednesday it will run its global production sites only on renewable energy starting in 2025 as part of efforts to achieve the goals for sustainable growth. All battery production facilities in South Korea, North America, Europe and China will operate on 100 percent renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, the world's second-largest battery maker said in the latest report on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG). It also plans to turn non-pr

IndustryAug. 3, 2022

Seoul shares open higher despite US losses

Seoul shares opened higher Wednesday, bucking overnight losses on Wall Street, with investors staying wary of any ripple effect of US House speaker's trip to Taiwan on the financial markets. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.48 point, or 0.02 percent, to trade at 2,440.10 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Escalating tension between China and the United States over US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan on Tuesday could further weigh on inv

MarketAug. 3, 2022

Kakao Bank's Q2 net declines 18% on increased loan-loss reserves

Kakao Bank, a major internet-only lender in South Korea, said Wednesday its earnings shrank 17.7 percent in the second quarter from a year ago, citing an increase in its loan-loss reserves. Net income came to 57 billion won ($43.3 million) in the April-June period, down from a net profit of 69.3 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Operating profit fell 6.8 percent on-year to 74.4 billion won, and its revenue surged 46 percent to 371 billion won over the cited period. The

IndustryAug. 3, 2022

Big firms' payrolls increase 1.5% in H1 on eased pandemic curbs

The combined workforce of large South Korean companies expanded 1.5 percent in the first half of the year from a year earlier amid eased COVID-19 restrictions, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. The number of workers hired by 459 out of the country's top 500 firms by sales totaled 1.55 million as of end-June this year, up around 12,500, from a year earlier, according to CEO Score. The tally excludes 41 out of the country's leading 500 companies, which reported changes of 10 percent or

EconomyAug. 3, 2022