Bank run at Tongyang Securities cools: data

Fund withdrawals by Tongyang Securities Inc. customers have declined sharply since the immediate aftermath of its parent firm Tong Yang Group’s default in September, amid a move underway to sell the brokerage arm, data showed Thursday. The outstanding amount of deposits at Tongyang Securities stood at 2.3 trillion won ($2.17 billion) at the end of November, equivalent to only 60 percent of the total it held in late September, according to data from the Korea Investors Service Inc.Tongyang Securi

Dec. 26, 2013

KRX to open English website for IPO information

The Korea Exchange, the country’s bourse operator, said Thursday it will open an English website that provides information on initial public offerings on the local bourse.The website (ipo.krx.co.kr) will be helpful to foreign firms seeking IPOs on the South Korean stock market and foreign investors as well, according to the KRX.The website, set to open on Friday, offers a wide range of information such as IPO procedures and requirements, it said.The KRX said a similar website in Chinese will be

Dec. 26, 2013

Korea’s manufacturers downbeat about Q1 biz: poll

A majority of South Korean manufacturers predicted bearish business conditions for the first three months of 2014 due to a bleak outlook for economic recovery, a poll showed Thursday. The survey of 2,500 companies by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) showed the Business Survey Index (BSI) at 92 for the January-March period, down 2 points from 94 tallied three months earlier.The index gauges manufacturer sentiment, and a reading below the benchmark 100 means pessimists outnumber o

Dec. 26, 2013

S. Korea’s consumer sentiment remains positive in Dec.

South Korean consumer sentiment in December held steady from the previous month at a 33-month high as the local economy is showing signs of improvement, the central bank said Thursday, although the sub-index remained somewhat downbeat.The consumer sentiment index (CSI) came in at 107 for December, unchanged from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index is a gauge of consumers’ overall economic outlook, living conditions and future spending.The data marked the highest l

Dec. 26, 2013

Top 4 conglomerates dominate growth, profits

South Korea’s top four conglomerates, including Samsung, continued to dominate the country’s business sector in terms of generating growth and profits last year, a local economic think tank said in a report Monday.The Korea Economic Research Institute said the combined net earnings of the four business giants, which also include Hyundai Motor, SK and LG, accounted for 80 percent of all profits generated by the 30 largest conglomerates in the country in 2012. The average net profit of other large

Dec. 25, 2013

S. Korea's economic growth to reach 3.4% in 2014: think tank

South Korea's economy is expected to grow 3.4 percent on-year in 2014 following a recovery in the global economy, a local think tank said Wednesday, noting policy uncertainties still remain a challenge.The prediction made by the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI), a research arm of the Federation of Korean Industries, is faster than the 2.6-percent expansion estimated for 2013.This year's growth outlook edged up 0.2 percentage point from KERI's earlier estimate of a 2.4 percent gain made i

Dec. 25, 2013

Doosan Heavy wins W1.6tr order in Vietnam

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., one of Korea’s largest power plant builders, landed an order worth 1.6 trillion won ($1.5 billion) in Vietnam, the company said Tuesday.Doosan Heavy vice president Kim Hun-tak, Vietnam Electricity chairman Hoang Quoc Vuong and other related officials signed the construction contract for Vinh Tan 4, a 1,200-megawatt coal-based thermal power plant, in Hanoi, Vietnam, Tuesday, according to the company.The power plant, expected to be completed by June 2018

Dec. 24, 2013

Samsung targets faster decision-making in 2014

Top executives of Samsung Group affiliates discussed how to become a first mover by deploying a swift decision-making process and seeking constant innovation during a strategy brainstorming session for next year, sources said Tuesday.“The executives put an emphasis on making constant efforts to become a global leader and an innovator,” said an official from the nation’s largest conglomerate. Key participants in the meeting that lasted for two days from Monday at the group’s training institute in

Dec. 24, 2013

NongHyup Financial likely to acquire Woori Investment & Securities

The chief financial regulator clarified that policymakers will sell Woori Investment & Securities with two other units of the state-funded Woori Financial Group.“I believe a batch sale is appropriate. The final decision will be made at a board of directors’ meeting at Woori Financial Group,” Financial Services Commission chairman Shin Je-yoon told reporters on Monday.His remarks come after NongHyup Financial Group proposed a higher bidding price of 1.1 trillion won ($1 billion) for the auction p

Dec. 23, 2013

Less business failures in Nov.: BOK

The number of corporate bankruptcies declined in November from a three-month high tallied in the previous month as the economy is on the recovery track, the central bank said Friday.The number of companies that went belly up totaled 84 in November, down from 101 recorded in October, according to the Bank of Korea.The number of newly established companies came in at 6,112 last month, down from 6,445 in October.The default rate of corporate bills ― bonds, checks and promissory notes ― reached 0.12

Dec. 20, 2013

Stock short-selling turnover tops 5-year high

Stock short-selling turnover on the country’s main bourse topped a five-year high this month, largely due to uncertainties over the timing of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s stimulus cut, data showed Friday.The data compiled by market researcher FNGuide showed that short-selling turnover accounted for 2.01 percent of the combined trading volume on the main bourse in the first 20 days of the month, the highest portion since August 2008 on a monthly basis.Stock short-selling refers to a trading techniq

Dec. 20, 2013

U.S. Fed tapering likely to hurt S. Korean exports to emerging markets: report

The U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to taper its quantitative easing (QE) stimulus program is expected to hurt South Korea's exports to emerging economies, a report by a local think tank said Friday.The Institute for International Trade, the research arm of the Korea International Trade Association, said the fall in outbound shipments will be felt the most in emerging markets that are more vulnerable to the Fed's decision to reduce its monthly bond purchases by US$10 billion to $75 billion start

Dec. 20, 2013

Seoul markets react well to impact of Fed's tapering: BOK head

The local financial markets reacted well to the impact of the Federal Reserve's decision to taper its stimulus program, the country's top central banker said Friday."Net buying occurred in the local stock and bond markets. The financial markets were well adapting to the Fed's move to reduce quantitative easing," Bank of Korea (BOK) Kim Choong-soo said in a meeting with local bank heads.The governor said that as the size of the tapering largely met market expectations, the yield on 10-year U.S. T

Dec. 20, 2013

Koreans’ life satisfaction index stays below OECD average

Data from Statistics Korea showed Thursday that Koreans’ overall life satisfaction has remained at a relatively low level despite larger incomes and other achievements.“Koreans’ self-evaluated life satisfaction index fell behind the average of the 34 member countries surveyed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,” the state statistics agency said in its analysis of the Korean social trend for the past decade.Citing the Paris-based organization’s report on “How’s Life?: Me

Dec. 19, 2013

Hyundai Rotem wins W124.8b order from Brazil

Hyundai Rotem Co., a South Korean tank and train maker, said Thursday that it has secured a 124.8 billion won ($117.7 million) order to provide subway trains to a Brazilian subway train operator. The order was placed by Bahia Metro, an operator of Salvador Metro, which is a metro system under construction in the city of Salvador in Bahia state, Brazil, Hyundai Rotem said. The latest deal pushed Hyundai Rotem’s combined orders to over 1 trillion won since its first deal in 2003 with Brazil for 24

Dec. 19, 2013

Korea to support Uzbekistan’s solar energy project

South Korea has agreed to support Uzbekistan’s development of photovoltaic power stations that will include a joint project to identify the best sites for new solar energy farms in the Central Asian nation, the government said Thursday.Under a memorandum of understanding signed Thursday, Seoul and Tashkent will jointly set up and operate a test site for solar energy farms with South Korea also providing technological support.The agreement comes as Uzbekistan is soon expected to launch its first

Dec. 19, 2013