[KOSDAQ Star] Investors await next cashcow game from Com2us

This is the seventh in a series of articles analyzing major companies by market capitalization traded on the tech-heavy KOSDAQ market. --Ed.In the highly competitive mobile game industry, the life span of a hit title is getting shorter with new overnight successes emerging everyday. Analysts said Com2us, a Korean mobile game developer and publisher, needs to find the next game that can leave the company less reliant on cash-generator “Summoners War” that was launched two years ago. “Given mobile

April 18, 2016

[Market Now] Foreigners sell bond futures on dashed expectations for liquidity injections

With expectations of a Korean version of quantitative easing dashed as Korea’s conservative Saenuri Party failed to grab the majority of seats in the general elections, net selling of bond futures by foreign investors hit a record high last week.According to the Korea Exchange, foreign investors unloaded 6,856 contracts of 10-year Korean Treasury Bond Futures and 16,495 contracts of 3-year bond futures after the legislative election last week.“Foreign investors changed their positions as the pos

April 18, 2016

KOSPI stocks yield record dividends of W19.1tr in 2015

Korea’s main stock market, the KOSPI, had its best ever dividend year in 2015, with a total shareholder bonus reaching a record high, Korea Exchange said Monday. According to the bourse operator, nearly 70 percent, or 492, of 719 listed firms with their fiscal year ending in December will pay, or have already paid, a combined 19.1 trillion won ($16.6 billion) in cash dividends to shareholders by the end of April.The amount represents an increase of 27 percent from 2014, when 66 percent of the KO

April 18, 2016

Hyundai Merchant Marine shares test new lows on bankruptcy worries

Shares of Hyundai Merchant Marine fell to a 52-week low Monday on renewed worries that the debt-ridden shipping line may be heading for court receivership. The share price closed at 1,895 won ($1.65), 8.01 percent lower than the previous session’s close, against the benchmark KOSPI’s 0.28 percent decline. The stock’s slide came after Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho publicly expressed his concern over the country’s No. 2 shipping line struggling under mounting debt as marine trade continues to shrink

April 18, 2016

KIC names new COO

Korea’s sovereign wealth fund Korea Investment Corporation said Monday it has named Kim Sang-joon, head of London office, as new chief operating officer.Kim joined KIC in 2009 after working at Samsung Life Insurance’s asset management division for more than 20 years. KIC COO Kim Sang-joon (KIC)Kim’s appointment came after KIC CEO Eun Sung-soo, who took office in January, vowed to enhance transparency of the $91.8 billion national wealth fund’s management under a KIC reform plan.The plan includes

April 18, 2016

Strict lending rules force households to turn to savings banks

Korean households took more loans from savings banks last year compared with the previous year as banks tightened their lending rules to stay financially healthy, the central bank said Monday.As of the end of 2015, outstanding household loans extended by savings banks stood at 13.69 trillion won ($11.9 billion), accounting for 1.2 percent of overall household loans worth 1,141.83 trillion won, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea. Apartment complex in Seoul (Yonhap)The ratio of 1.

April 18, 2016

Korean shares open lower following quakes in Japan

Korean shares opened lower Monday, trimming recent gains, as investors weighed the impact of earthquakes that hit Japan last week.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 10.85 points, or 0.54 percent, to 2,003.86 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 0.31 percent, and industry frontrunner Samsung Life Insurance declined 7.02 percent.Top automaker Hyundai Motor rose 1.32 percent and cosmetics giant AmorePacific climbed 1.87 percent, keeping KO

April 18, 2016

Trade dependence declines to 8-year low

Korea’s dependence on overseas trade fell to an eight-year low last year as export suffers setback, data showed Sunday. According to data by the Bank of Korea, the nation’s trade dependence ratio or the proportion of trade to gross national income plunged to a record 88.1 percent in 2015, down 10.5 percent points from a year earlier. It is the lowest reading since the gauge stood at 81.6 percent in 2007. The ratio had stayed at a level as high as around 90-110 percent between 2008 and 2014 as th

April 17, 2016

Hana Financial joins tech consortium

Hana Financial Group said Sunday that it has joined notable financial companies in a consortium to apply and standarize innovative financial technologies.The “R3 CEV” group consists of 43 financial conglomerates, including Citigroup, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and UBS. Hana Financial Group (Yonhap)Hana Financial will be participating in this group to apply emerging blockchain technology into services such as global transactions and security protection. Blockchain enables sto

April 17, 2016

Korea to push for longer forex trading hours

Korea plans to extend its foreign exchange trading session by 30 minutes in line with its push for longer stock market trading hours, according to the nation’s chief financial policymaker. Currently, the local currency exchange market is open for six hours between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. The government now seeks to extend the market hours to 3:30 p.m. “The Financial Services Commission is pushing for the extension of stock market hours, and (we) will push for that of foreign exchange trading together,

April 17, 2016

Korea to take action on corporate restructuring

Korea’s Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said that the government will aggressively push forward with restructuring financially vulnerable companies, making this its top priority with the general election over. The top fiscal policymaker added that it will begin with Korea’s shipping companies that face liquidity crises, saying that he is most concerned with Hyundai Merchant Marine, which is undergoing a self-rescue plan with conditions by its creditors. Korea’s Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho (Yonhap)“I w

April 17, 2016

Mirae Asset Daewoo chief urges aggressive overseas investment

The head of South Korea's largest brokerage called on his own company Friday to more actively seek new investment opportunities in overseas stock markets, also revealing a plan to boost the company's overseas assets by at least 200 billion won (US$174.2 million).Park Hyeon-joo, chairman of Mirae Asset Financial Group, said the stock market and securities firms were about to enjoy a new booming era, partly brought on by low interest rates that he said were already directing investors to stock mar

April 15, 2016

[Weekender] Korea going coinless by 2020

Korea is officially going cashless by dumping coins first. In the country that boasts high smartphone adoption and credit card ownership, the way people pay for everything is changing, with more digital transactions than ever before.To spur the trend, the Bank of Korea is seeking a digital way to replace coins for transactions with its aim to make Korea a “coinless society” by 2020. “The most important goals are resolving inconvenience that consumers and shops feel while carrying and storing coi

April 15, 2016

[Weekender] Digital payment drives out ATMs

As bank consumers embrace digital payment methods, they are gradually turning their backs on automated teller machines, as cash machines on the street here have fallen to decline.Korea’s leading five banks ran a total of 29,611 ATMs as of the end of last year, down 4.4 percent, or 1,378, from a year earlier, according to data from the industry.The banks are Shinhan Bank, Kookmin Bank, Woori Bank, KEB Hana Bank and Industrial Bank of Korea.  Kookmin Bank has shut some 571 ATMs in the past three y

April 15, 2016

[Weekender] Tech firms seek leadership in era of electronic money

Online shopping can often be full of hassles. Shoppers have to install a package of security programs to fend off possible hacking attempts, enter credit card information, and type in a long and complex password. They need to repeat the routine again if a single mistake is made along the way.Mobile payment services, however, have eliminated such hurdles plaguing online shoppers. The mobile payments boast built-in security programs, a simple and easy-to-use user interface, and a high level of com

April 15, 2016

[Weekender] Will big wallets become a thing of the past?

With the rise of plastic cards and smartphone applications in everyday transactions, Korean consumers have little need for cash -- or full-sized wallets.Data shows that consumer preferences are turning more toward smaller, thinner wallets whose primary function is to hold plastic cards.According to online marketplace Gmarket, sales of card wallets and money clips surpassed that of half- and full-sized wallets in 2014 and 2015. In 2010, card wallets and money clips had represented just 10 percent

April 15, 2016

[Weekender] A cashless society

A cashless society is fast becoming a reality in Korea.Cashless transactions here have already overtaken those made with notes and coins. Koreans use cash for just 20 percent of all payments they make. According to a recent survey by the Bank of Korea, the average Korean carries 74,000 won ($65) cash and two credit cards in their wallet, withdrawing cash out of ATMs only three times per month.Men and older people still prefer cash compared to Women and younger people, the survey found. “Spending

April 15, 2016

Youth unemployment highest on record for March

Korea’s youth unemployment hit its highest level on record for March while the economy added 300,000 new jobs in the same month, government data showed Friday.The jobless rate for people aged between 15 and 29 stood at 11.8 percent in March, a slight decrease from a record high of 12.5 percent in February, according to the Statistics Korea. The figure is the highest youth unemployment rate on record for March.(123RF)The additional 300,000 jobs in March, which brought the employment number to 25.

April 15, 2016

[Market Now] Fitch warns of weakening reform drive

Fitch Ratings, one of the three major global credit appraisers, said Friday that the outlook for Korea’s economic reforms, essential for its long-term growth, has gotten murkier after President Park Geun-hye’s ruling party lost its parliamentary majority in elections. “The South Korean government will find it more difficult to implement key structural reforms to boost long-term productivity,” said Fitch analyst Thomas Rookmaaker. In April 13 general elections, Korea’s governing Saenuri Party suf

April 15, 2016

Korea's foreign currency deposits jump 13% in March

Foreign currency deposits at banks jumped 13 percent in March from a month earlier due mainly to increased deposits by local companies, central bank data showed Friday. Outstanding foreign currency deposits held by local residents came to $60.6 billion last month, up $7.1 billion from the previous month, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea. Local residents include firms and foreign nationals who have stayed in the country for more than six months. The deposit figure excludes inte

April 15, 2016