BOK sees W1.8tr loss on gold price plunge

By Chung Joo-wonSouth Korea’s central bank reported a 1.8 trillion won ($1.54 billion) loss as record-low international gold prices devalued its reserve, the parliamentary finance committee revealed Sunday.According to the Bank of Korea’s report to the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee, the value of the bank’s gold purchased in 2011-2013 depreciated by 33 percent on average at current value.Last week, the gold price plunged to its lowest level in five years since April 2010, plu

July 26, 2015

Seoul shares to move in narrow range next week

South Korean stocks are likely to trade in a tight range next week as investors watch out for second-quarter earnings results and the Fed's two-day policy meeting, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 2,045.96 on Friday, falling 1.48 percent from a week earlier. The KOSPI kicked off on a slightly weak note as profit concerns on major shipbuilders offset easing worries over Greece and China.Later in the week, the index moved lower as foreigners

July 25, 2015

Banks step up efforts to curb switching accounts

Banks are gearing up their efforts to retain their conventional customers and stop them from moving their accounts to other banks ― a provisionary measure to the incoming bank account switching system.Starting from October, customers will be able to move their accounts more freely from one bank to another, without having to adjust their automatic withdrawals. The system was introduced by the Financial Services Commission back in 2013 as a means to enhance the competitiveness of the banking indus

July 24, 2015

Hana Financial's net slips 10.27 pct in Q2

Major South Korean banking group Hana Financial Group Inc. said Friday that its second-quarter net profit fell 10.27 percent from a year earlier due to a rise in loan-loss reserves.Net income stood at 374.9 billion won ($321 million) in the April-June period, compared with 417.8 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Compared with three months earlier, the group's bottom line stayed nearly unchanged from 374 billion won.For the first half, its net profit jumped 22.7

July 24, 2015

KB Financial’s net profit falls in Q2

KB Financial Group said Thursday that its net profit for the second quarter stood at 339.6 billion won ($291 million), down 43.9 percent from the previous quarter, due to the expenses spent on mass voluntary retirement.Its quarterly sales and operating profits were 5.4 trillion won and 397.9 billion won, respectively down 5.34 percent and 24.27 percent from the same period last year.In half-year net profit, KB Financial achieved 944.6 billion won, up 25.7 percent from the previous year, handing

July 23, 2015

Won-dollar hits 3-year high

The U.S. dollar posted its strongest position against the Korean won in more than three years on Thursday, with its value gaining more than 8 percent over the past three months.The greenback surged 11.5 won, or 0.99 percent, from the earlier trading session to close at 1,165.1 won. The won-dollar rate marked the highest in 37 months after it traded at 1,165.6 won on June 15, 2012.Compared to a year earlier, when the dollar traded at 1,010 won, the U.S. currency gained about 15 percent. Analysts

July 23, 2015

Borrowers to undergo stricter income checks

Individual borrowers will have to undergo stricter assessments when they apply for bank loans under new guidelines to curb the nation’s household debt.Banks will be instructed to take borrowers’ redemption capability into greater consideration than their collateral from next year, said financial regulators, the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Korea said in a joint statement Wednesday.Their policy reportedly reflected the estimate that the record-high level of outstanding household loans ― worth

July 22, 2015

Finance minister urges quick passage of extra budget

South Korea's finance minister called on lawmakers Wednesday to pass an extra budget quickly to help cushion the fallout of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and economic uncertainties.  The government submitted the 11.2 trillion-won ($10.3 billion) supplementary budget plan to the parliament for approval on July 6, with policymakers initially expressing hope it would be passed by July 20. Rival parties have failed to see eye to eye on the budget's size, raising worries that it may not be passed

July 22, 2015

Government to sell Woori Bank to group investors

The financial authority decided to sell its dominant stake in Woori Bank to a group of investors, scrapping its earlier stance to find a single bidder.The number of investors is expected to be set at between three and 10 on the basis of a split-based holding among a group of oligopolistic stakeholders, according to the Public Fund Oversight Committee.The PFOC, an arm of the Financial Services Commission, Tuesday unveiled its revised method to sell the state-controlled bank. This marked the fifth

July 21, 2015

Part-time labor market gets harsher on slow economy

By Chung Joo-won The growth of Korean part-timers’ monthly income in the second quarter slowed to a three-year low, an online job-matching portal revealed Monday.Alba Paradise chief executive Choi In-nyeong said, “In general, the growth of part-timers’ income and average hourly pay had been far faster than the minimum wage.”“But this year, their monthly and hourly wages grew slower, most likely because the slow economy cut down on the demand in the part-time labor market,” he said.According to a

July 20, 2015

Won-dollar rate hits 2-year high

The U.S. dollar’s globally strong positon is pulling down the Korean won’s value, with the won-dollar exchange rate reaching its highest point since July 8, 2013.The dollar rose 4.6 won from the previous trading session to close at 1,152.1 won on Monday.The exchange rate ― amid growing expectations of a rate hike in the U.S. later this year ― is likely to surpass 1,161.4 won reached on June 24, 2013, in the coming weeks, some local currency dealers predicted.If it breaks through the barrier, the

July 20, 2015