Mobile banking subscribers up 27.4% in 2015

The number of people accessing bank accounts through mobile devices rose 27.4 percent in 2015, Bank of Korea data showed Monday. Mobile banking service subscribers stood at 76.5 million at the end of 2015, while Internet banking grew 13.2 percent to 116.8 million users. The tallies include overlapping subscribers.Smartphone-based banking, in particularly, posted a 34.4 percent jump in users to 64.8 million, topping the 60 million mark for the first time. Central bank data also showed solid growt

April 25, 2016

Mirae Asset Global Investments accelerates global expansion

Mirae Asset Global Investments, Korea’s leading asset management firm, is strengthening its foothold in overseas markets by diversifying its investment portfolio with a network spanning more than 12 countries.Since it made a foray into Hong Kong in 2003 by setting up its first overseas office, the flagship asset management affiliate of Mirae Asset Financial Group has bolstered its presence by establishing subsidiaries in both emerging and developed financial markets like India, Brazil, Taiwan, t

April 25, 2016

[Market Now] KT&G sees valuation target increase

A number of securities companies have increased their expectations for KT&G following the earnings surprise by the KOSPI-listed tobacco-maker in the first quarter.Eugene Investment & Securities said the company is expected to continue its momentum in the second half of this year, increasing its share price target from 130,000 won ($113) to 150,000 won. It recommended buy.Samsung Securities also increased the target valuation to 145,000 won a share from 135,000 won as its first quarter operating

April 25, 2016

[Market Now] Corporate bond issues fall in March

Korea’s corporate bond issues fell more than 40 percent to 1.6 trillion won ($1.4 billion) last month due to worsening corporate sentiment, according to the Financial Supervisory Service on Monday.The FSS data show that fixed-income securities issued by corporations amounted to some 7.9 trillion won in the first quarter of this year ending March 31, down more than 34 percent from a year ago.  Financial Supervisory Service headquarters in Seoul (Yonhap)The fall was attributable to a decline in th

April 25, 2016

Seoul shares open lower on steel, shipbuilder losses

South Korean share prices opened lower Monday on losses by steelmakers and shipbuilders.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched down 0.07 percent, or 1.48 points, to 2,014.01 in the first 15 minutes of trading.  Traders monitor share prices at the Korea Exchange. (Yonhap)Investors sold shares in steelmakers and shipbuilders such as POSCO and Hyundai Heavy Industries after seeing major firms post sluggish earnings in the first quarter. Construction shares, on the other hand, rallie

April 25, 2016

[Market Now] Hanjin Shipping tanks; Korean Air inches up

Shares of Hanjin Group’s key companies moved in opposite directions Monday, as investors gauged the expected impact of its shipping affiliate’s pursuit of a creditor-led rehabilitation. Hanjin Shipping tanked on the main Seoul bourse, with its stocks trading at 1,845 won per share as of 10:05 a.m., 29.56 percent lower than the previous close. Hanjin KAL, the group’s holdings firm, soared 12.37 percent to 21,350 won, while Korean Air Lines climbed 2.96 percent to 31,300 won. Hanjin Shipping, the

April 25, 2016

Shipping unit's debt problems weigh on Hanjin Group

Ailing container shipper Hanjin Shipping and its three publicly traded affiliates face a 3.4 trillion won ($2.96 billion) wall of debt coming due by the end of next year, data showed Sunday. According to data compiled by Chaebul.com, an online financial information provider, four Hanjin Group companies -- Hanjin Shipping, Korean Air Lines, Hanjin KAL and Hanjin Corp. -- have to repay a combined 1.49 trillion won in loans this year and another 1.55 trillion won by the end of next year. Hanjin Shi

April 24, 2016

Shinhan Financial leads in Q1 earnings

First-quarter earnings reports show Shinhan Financial Group cementing its lead in the local banking sector, with a 30 percent increase in net profits. The group’s net profit in the January-March period stood at 771.4 billion won ($670.7 million), up 30.3 percent from the same period last year, the company said in a regulatory filing last week. From three months earlier, the tally marked a spike of 90.9 percent. “Improvements in banking, with a pickup in the net interest margin, had a big role (i

April 24, 2016

Watchdog looking into former chair’s disposal of Hanjin Shipping shares

Korea’s financial watchdog is reportedly looking into the disposal of Hanjin Shipping shares by its former chairwoman before news broke on the firm’s move to seek a creditor-led rehabilitation last Friday. According to multiple reports, the Financial Supervisory Service suspects that Choi Eun-yeong, the shipping line’s chairwoman until 2014, may have gotten tips from company insiders about its fate and divested out of her equity investment in the firm before news reached the market, a violation

April 24, 2016

Korea to tighten fiscal management

The Korean government will accelerate fiscal reforms to better manage its tax revenue and budget through efficient capital allocation and planning as a means to boost its preparedness against slower growth and higher national debt.(Yonhap)In a meeting presided over by President Park Geun-hye at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday, the government will seek stronger fiscal discipline to ensure that its taxpayer money will not be wasted in the face of growing economic uncertainties.The Ministry of Finance said

April 22, 2016

BOK sees signs of stabilization, but wary on full recovery

The chief of South Korea’s central bank said Friday that uncertainties in the local and global financial markets have eased but whether such improvements will lead to a full economic recovery remains to be seen.“Recently, the local financial market has become a bit more stabilized following the disappearance of some woes in the global financial market, and we are beginning to see some positive signs of recovery,” Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said in a monthly breakfast meeting with officials f

April 22, 2016

Korea to maintain expansionary fiscal policy through 2020

South Korea plans to maintain its expansionary fiscal policy mode for the next five years to prop up the economy with efforts to cut unnecessary outlays, the finance minister said Friday.   In the 2016 national fiscal strategy meeting chaired by President Park Geun-hye, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said it will raise the government's spending growth rate next year, given that the country is facing daunting challenges at home and abroad.    (Yonhap)The ministry maintained the budget spend

April 22, 2016

Korea‘s MSCI upgrade unlikely in two years: analyst

Korea may need to wait at least two years to get the Korea Exchange included in MSCI’s developed market index, an analyst at Mirae Asset Daewoo Securities said Thursday. Asia’s fourth-largest economy, an emerging market according to MSCI, was taken off the review list for a potential upgrade to developed market in 2014, with MSCI citing the “absence of any significant improvements in key areas negatively affecting accessibility.”“Getting back on the list for potential inclusion as developed mark

April 21, 2016

KOSPI rises to yearly high on revived risk appetite

Korean shares closed higher Thursday as foreigners and institutional investors increased their net buying. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 0.81 percent, or 16.27 points, to 2,022.10, the highest closing level this year.  Trade volume stood at a moderate 387.84 million shares worth 4.71 trillion won ($4.2 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 487 to 305.Foreign and institutional investors bought a combined 303.79

April 21, 2016

Samsung Asset Management launches new retirement funds

Korea’s Samsung Asset Management launched a new type of retirement funds called target-date funds, jointly with U.S. asset manager Capital Group on Thursday, seeing opportunities in Korea’s aging society. Target-date funds, which are being introduced in the Korean market for the first time, provide a mix of stocks and bonds based on the investor’s age and planned retirement date. Fund managers increase the proportion of bonds and reduce that of stocks as the investor ages. Shaw Wagener, chairman

April 21, 2016

Time is ripe for structural reforms: finance minister

Strategy and Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said that Korea cannot afford to hold off structural reforms, stressing that this should not just slip by the public’s attention without merit.In an email to the employees of the Finance Ministry on Thursday -- the 100th day since his appointment as the country’s top fiscal policymaker, Yoo said that reforms in the public, labor, education and finance sectors are necessary for a country facing limited growth. Strategy and Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho (Yonhap

April 21, 2016

Views of new board members to determine direction of monetary policy

Korea's monetary policy may face a change of direction depending on the personal views of four new monetary policy board members who officially began their four-year terms Thursday, market observers said.The four new members alone will be enough to determine the direction of monetary policies by the seven-member board, the observers noted.However, it is believed that they do not all share the same views on how to best support the market and its growth.The new board members are Cho Dong-chul, a p

April 21, 2016

Korea's overseas investment grows 6.8% in 2015

Korea's overseas investment grew from a year earlier in 2015 as investors increasingly headed to advanced markets, including the United States, in search of safer assets, central bank data showed Thursday.As of end-2015, the country's outstanding overseas investment came to $767 billion, up 6.8 percent, or $48.6 billion, from $718.4 billion a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). Bank of Korea (Yonhap)Of the total, $278.4 billion remained in foreign direct inv

April 21, 2016

Regulator rotates Samil PwC as Daewoo Shipbuilding auditor

The nation’s top financial regulator has replaced Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering’s external auditor from Deloitte Anjin to Samil PwC, news reports said Thursday.The move comes as the Financial Supervisory Service is investigating whether Deloitte Anjin had played a role in helping the ailing shipbuilder dress up its financial records for the fiscal year of 2013 and 2014. Deloitte Anjin, which has been the external auditor for DSME since 2010, was recently found to have approved Daewo

April 21, 2016

[Market Now] Haitai Confectionery to launch IPO to repay debt

Haitai Confectionery & Foods, the seller of the hit snack Honey Butter Chip, said 80 percent of its initial public offering shares will be offered to retail and institutional investors.In a regulatory filing on Thursday, Haitai said it would be offering a total of 5.83 million shares worth about 72 billion won ($63.3 million), or 12,300 won per share at a face value of 500 won. NH Investment & Securities and Samsung Securities is Haitai’s IPO manager. Honey Butter Chips (Yonhap)Of the 80 percent

April 21, 2016