BOK holds key interest rate steady at record low

South Korea's central bank left the key interest rate unchanged at a record low of 1.5 percent Thursday in an apparent bid to prevent the fallout from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak from hurting the economy.The July decision is in line with a poll by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency, in which all 17 analysts and economists projected the BOK would freeze the key rate to monitor the impact of previous rate cuts and ease household debt risks.Last month, th

July 9, 2015

Park renews calls for reform in labor and public sector

President Park Geun-hye vowed Wednesday to press ahead with efforts to reform South Korea's rigid labor market and other sectors.She has been struggling to overhaul such issues as labor market duality -- the difference in pay and job security between regular and non-regular workers.Some companies shun recruitment and instead rely on non-regular workers that they can fire more easily as the economy remains sluggish, a development that pushed up the jobless rate for young people.The unemployment r

July 8, 2015

Household loan growth picks up in June

Household loans extended by South Korean lenders increased at a faster pace in June compared with the previous month amid low lending rates, central bank data showed Wednesday.Outstanding household loans extended by local banks totaled 594.5 trillion won ($524.5 billion) as of the end of last month, adding 8.1 trillion won from May, according to the Bank of Korea.The monthly gain was smaller than the record 8.5 trillion-won gain in April but still bigger than the 7.3 trillion-won increase posted

July 8, 2015

Samsung C&T CEO says NPS likely to back planned merger

The head of Samsung C&T Co., a construction and trading arm of Samsung Group, said Wednesday he believes the National Pension Service, the firm's single largest shareholder, will vote for the merger with a group affiliate at next week's shareholder meeting.Samsung C&T shareholders are scheduled to meet on July 17 to cast ballots on Cheil Industries Inc.'s proposal to take over the builder in an all-stock deal worth 8.9 trillion won ($7.93 billion). Cheil Industries is the de facto holding firm o

July 8, 2015

S. Korea's M2 money supply grows most in nearly 5 years

South Korea's M2 money supply expanded at the fastest clip in almost five years in May, due mainly to increased liquidity of households, central bank data showed Wednesday.The M2 surged 9.3 percent on-year to 2,170.5 trillion won ($1.9 trillion) in May, quickening from a 9 percent increase in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The on-year growth marks the fastest increase since July 2010 when the M2 expanded 9.3 percent.From a month earlier, the country's M2 rose 1 percent on a s

July 8, 2015

MERS fallout bodes ill for Q2 corporate earnings

South Korean companies are forecast to have posted worse-than-expected earnings in the second quarter as they grappled with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome fallout and an economic slowdown in China, data showed Wednesday. The combined operating profit for 209 companies listed on the main KOSPI market was estimated at 33.11 trillion won ($29.21 billion) for the April-June period, according to the data compiled by market researcher WiseFn. The latest figure was 1.5 percent down from the previ

July 8, 2015

S. Korea's growth to slip to 2.6 pct this year: think tank

A leading South Korean think tank sharply lowered its 2015 forecast of the economy's growth Tuesday, citing falling exports and the fallout from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak. In its latest economic outlook, the LG Economic Research Institute revised down its growth prediction to 2.6 percent from an earlier 3 percent estimate made three months ago. The South Korean economy expanded 3.3 percent on-year in 2014.The downgrade was largely attributed to the country's weak exports, as

July 7, 2015

Household loan growth slows in May

Growth of household loans extended by South Korean financial institutions slowed sharply in May from a month earlier due mainly to a policy loan program aimed at improving the quality of household debt, central bank data showed Tuesday.Outstanding household lending by local lenders and non-banking institutions totaled 768.2 trillion won ($682.2 billion) as of the end of May, growing 2.9 trillion won from the previous month, according to the data by the Bank of Korea.The monthly gain marks a shar

July 7, 2015

Samsung C&T wins court battle against Elliot over

A Seoul court on Tuesday turned down a U.S. hedge fund's request to stop a friendly shareholder of Samsung C&T Corp. from voting on a proposed merger with another Samsung unit with treasury shares bought from the builder.Samsung C&T, the construction and trading arm of Samsung Group, is facing opposition from Elliott Associates over a takeover offer in May by Cheil Industries Inc., the group's de facto holding firm. The Seoul Central District Court said Samsung C&T's sale of treasury shares to K

July 7, 2015

Samsung logs 4% drop in Q2 profit

Samsung Electronics Co. estimated Tuesday that its second-quarter operating income fell about 4 percent from a year earlier as weak sales of its newest smartphones fell shy of expectations.Operating profit reached 6.9 trillion won ($6.13 billion) in the April-June period, down 4.03 percent from the 7.19 trillion won posted a year earlier, Samsung said in a regulatory filing.The estimate marks a 15.38 percent rise from the operating profit of 5.98 trillion won three months earlier. But the on-qua

July 7, 2015

Seoul shares open higher on Greek hopes

South Korean stocks started a tad higher Tuesday on speculation that Greece would return to negotiations with creditors, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 4.78 points, or 0.23 percent, to 2,058.71 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said earlier that his government is ready to start talks with creditors while leaders of Germany and France will meet other eurozone leaders Wednesday.Shares of Samsung Group affiliates led the incre

July 7, 2015

Seoul shares dip 2.4 pct on escalating Grexit woes

South Korean stocks tumbled 2.4 percent to a two-week low Monday as a Greek referendum against austerity measures proposed by its international lenders clouded the future of the eurozone and reduced investors' appetite for risky assets, analysts said. The local currency declined against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 50.48 points to close at 2,053.93. Trading volume was moderate at 463.9 million shares worth 6.3 trillion won ($5.6 billion) with losers far ou

July 6, 2015

Samsung, LG top study in ESS battery capabilities

South Korea's Samsung SDI Co. and LG Chem Ltd. have outpaced global rivals in terms of strategy and execution in the energy storage system battery industry, a report showed Monday.LG Chem led the corporate assessment in the ESS segment with a total score of 84, trailed by Samsung SDI with 83.5, the report released by U.S.-based market tracker Navigant Research showed.The ESS refers to the procedures of saving energy in a large-scale battery for efficient distribution of power. For example, an ES

July 6, 2015

S. Korean banks' mortgage lending soars in June

South Korean banks saw their mortgage lending jump by more than 9 trillion won ($8.01 billion) in June from the previous month, data showed Sunday, due to sharply increased housing transactions.  As of end-June, the nation's seven major banks, including Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori and Hana, held 321.04 trillion won in outstanding mortgage loans, down from 330.9 trillion won a month earlier, according to the data by the lenders.  The actual amount, however, jumped by 9.3 trillion won last month, give

July 5, 2015

Seoul shares close tad lower ahead of Greek referendum

South Korean stocks closed marginally lower Friday, as investors took a cautious approach ahead of Greece's crucial referendum on a bailout plan on Sunday, analysts said. The local currency rose slightly against the U.S. dollar.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 2.92 points, or 0.14 percent to close at 2,104.41. Trading volume was moderate at 412.6 million shares worth 5.87 trillion won ($5.23 billion) with decliners outpacing gainers 418 to 389.   "While investors a

July 3, 2015

S. Korea keep top spot in shipbuilding orders in H1

South Korean shipbuilders, led by industry leader Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., have secured the largest amount of new orders in the first six months of the year to retain the top slot, while the global shipbuilding industry saw new orders halve, industry data showed Friday.  According to the data compiled by global researcher Clarkson Research Services, South Korean shipyards clinched new orders totaling 5.92 million compensated gross tons during the January-June period, compared with 6.16 mill

July 3, 2015

Higher cracking margins, stable oil prices bode well for refiners' Q2 earnings

South Korean refiners are expected to have racked up robust earnings in the second quarter on the back of higher cracking margins and stable oil prices, industry data showed Friday.  The nation's three refiners posted their worst-ever performance last year as a freefall in oil prices hurt the value of their crude inventories with the combined operating reaching 2.6 trillion won.   But they swung to the black in the first quarter as cracking margins climbed and crude prices remained at stable lev

July 3, 2015

Govt to spread out Treasurys sales to minimize impact on bond market

The finance ministry said Friday that it plans to spread out the sale of Treasurys needed to cover a large portion of this year's proposed extra budget to prevent instability in the local bond market.The government drew up an 11.8 trillion-won ($10.5 billion) supplementary budget plan to contain the fallout from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome  outbreak and thus help Asia's fourth-largest economy keep its growth momentum, some 9.6 trillion won of which will be financed with the debt sales.A

July 3, 2015

Seoul outlines 12 tln-won extra budget plan to prop up growth, cope with MERS

South Korea on Friday outlined an 11.8 trillion-won ($10.5 billion) extra budget plan designed to prop up its economy that is being dragged down by weak consumption and fallout from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak.The plan that is part of a much larger 22 trillion-won economic stimulus package aimed at helping Asia's fourth-largest economy grow at a clip of more than 3 percent this year and laying the foundation for more robust growth in 2016, the finance ministry said.The extra bu

July 3, 2015