Merger chances rise for two top shipping firms

[THE INVESTOR] The possibility of merging Korea’s two top money-losing shipping firms is growing after the financial regulator revealed the government’s plan for their restructuring program early this week.  The Financial Services Commission on Monday said it would consider the merger of Hanjin Shipping Co. and Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. once they complete their separate restructuring programs. (Yonhap)“If Hanjin succeeds in normalizing its business, (the agency) will evaluate whether the merge

June 14, 2016

KEPCO seeks public listing of subsidiaries

[THE INVESTOR] Eight of Korea’s state-run energy companies, including subsidiaries of Korea Electric Power Corporation, will push for initial public offerings from the first half of 2017, the government said on June 14. The Korean government announced the plan as part of its broader corporate restructuring efforts on public energy and resource development firms against the backdrop of low international oil prices. The headquarters of KEPCO in Naju, Seouth Jeolla ProvinceUnder the scheme, five su

June 14, 2016

[DECODED] Mirae Asset under pressure to reform corporate governance

Park Hyeon-joo, the founder and chairman of Mirae Asset Financial Group, tells his fund managers and executives to think global, have a long term vision and always be the first mover in the market.  Those principles, however, don’t seem to apply to his own ownership of the group.      Mirae Asset is under increasing pressure to reform its corporate governance structure, the cost of which Park seems to think of as a potential drag on global expansion.  Experts say Mirae Asset will take maneuvers

June 14, 2016

Korean government makes last-minute push for MSCI inclusion

[THE INVESTOR] The Korean government is making a last-ditch effort to get its stock market included in the top grade of global market indices, government officials said on June 14. The key decision by New York-based index provider MSCI on the potential inclusion of Korea on its developed market index is to be announced on June 15 (Korea time). To request the upgrade, a delegation of officials from a financial regulator and economic ministries, recently visited MSCI’s office in Hong Kong, accordi

June 14, 2016

KEPCO seeks public listing of subsidiaries

[THE INVESTOR] Eight of Korea’s state-run energy companies, including subsidiaries of Korea Electric Power Corporation, will push for initial public offerings from the first half of 2017, the government said on June 14. The Korean government announced the plan as part of its broader corporate restructuring efforts on public energy and resource development firms against the backdrop of low international oil prices. Under the scheme, five subsidiaries wholly owned by KEPCO, including Korea South-E

June 14, 2016

POSCO retains most competitive steelmaker title

[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s biggest steelmaker POSCO retained its title as the world’s most competitive steelmaker for the seventh consecutive year since 2010, the company announced on Tuesday.Evaluating 37 steelmakers from around the world in 23 different categories, global steel information service provider World Steel Dynamics awarded POSCO the highest score of 8.02 points out of 10. POSCO CEO Kwon Oh-joon (Yonhap)Despite the setbacks POSCO saw this year with the sluggish economy and reinforcement

June 14, 2016

Brexit to weigh down Korean financial market

As the vote over whether Britain should leave or remain in the European Union is drawing near, analysts are issuing a series of warnings that Britain’s EU exit, or “Brexit,” would have a severe impact on the global economy.A Brexit would also deal a blow to Korea, whose biggest free trade partners include the EU, as investors are expected to pull their funds out of Asian markets exposed to risks stemming from Britain’s EU referendum.Confidence has already begun to be negatively affected with Kor

June 14, 2016

The Investor launches online business news service

 [THE INVESTOR] English online business news service The Investor (www.theinvestor.co.kr) kicked off on June 14 with the aim of providing global investors with timely, accurate and influential information on Korea’s dynamic business landscape.Korean media and lifestyle company Herald Corp. unveiled The Investor at a launching event held at Four Seasons Hotel Seoul. More than 130 senior officials from major Korean companies and banks, including Samsung Group, Hyundai Motor Group, SK Group, LG Cor

June 14, 2016

Samsung unit says it ends talks over stake sale

Cheil Worldwide Inc., an advertising unit of Samsung Group, said Tuesday that its negotiations to sell a controlling stake to Publicis Groupe SA, a French advertising company, have ruptured.The company, part of the country’s largest family-controlled conglomerate, said there are currently no talks under way with any other firm."Talks between main stakeholders and the global advertising agency ended without a specific conclusion," the company stated in a regulatory filing.Earlier, media reports c

June 14, 2016

[INTERVIEW] Korea’s pension behemoth eyes alternative investments

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s public pension fund will keep increasing alternative investments and reduce local equities in the long term, as the behemoth’s snowballing assets will be too large for the domestic stock market, its chief investment officer has said.The National Pension Service, which manages about 524 trillion won ($450 billion) collected from 21 million Korean subscribers, is a significant client for leading asset managers around the world, who are hunting attractive real estate, i

June 14, 2016

Korea's national assets grow 6.7% on-year in 2015

South Korea's total assets continued to grow from a year earlier in 2015 on a large increase in nonfinancial assets, central bank data showed Tuesday.As of the end of 2015, the country's national assets came to 12,359.5 trillion won ($10.54 trillion), up 6.7 percent from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.The 2015 tally is 7.9 times higher than the country's nominal gross domestic product for the same year.The increase, however, came mostly from a rise in nonfin

June 14, 2016

Commercial banks resort to emergency measures to keep money flowing

South Korea's major commercial banks are going all out to keep customers from leaving, market observers said Tuesday, apparently as many have already left for non-bank financial institutions in search of higher interest returns on their deposits.Commercial banks generally continue to enjoy the largest share of savings customers as they are often considered the safest and the last to collapse among all financial institutions that offer interest on deposits, including savings banks, insurance firm

June 14, 2016

Strong IPO pipeline for 2nd half of 2016

[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s stock market will see mega initial public offerings during the second half this year with subsidiaries of large conglomerates like Samsung and Lotte poised to fuel the IPO market.  Given that companies commonly push for public listing after posting half-year earnings in June, more deals will fill up this year’s upcoming IPO calendar, following the robust first half, thanks to the stock market that is recovering from negative sentiments.As of June 8, a total of 15 companies

June 14, 2016

Seoul bourse to stay volatile on Brexit woes

South Korea's stock market is expected to tread on thin ice for the next week on escalating concerns over Britain's exit from the European Union, analysts said Tuesday.A yes vote for a British exit from the economic bloc, called Brexit, could prompt foreign investors, especially those from Britain, flee South Korea in droves, resulting in a big drag on the local bourse, they added.Britain will hold a referendum on June 23 to decide if it will remain in or leave the EU. Market sources say recent

June 14, 2016

[KOSDAQ Star] Autech -- small, but big, special vehicle-maker

This is the 12th in a series of articles analyzing major companies by market capitalization traded on the tech-heavy KOSDAQ market. -- Ed.Driving down the road when suddenly an ambulance screeches by with red sirens flashing and calling out to clear the way, another driver would naturally see the special vehicle belongs to a nearby hospital, without thinking of where it came from.Actually, almost all of the ambulances on the road speeding by in Korea come from KOSDAQ-listed tech company Autech.A

June 14, 2016

Deutsche case leaves a lasting scar on Korea

[THE INVESTOR] On Nov. 11, 2010, with just 10 minutes for the stock market to close in Seoul, traders of Deutsche Bank dumped 2.4 trillion won ($2.05 billion) worth of Korean shares, triggering a 2.7 percent drop on the country’s main KOSPI index. The massive and coordinated sell-off by Deutsche employees in Hong Kong and Seoul wiped out 28 trillion won in value from Korea’s equity market, but the German bank reaped a profit of 44.9 billion won through derivative positions it had built in advanc

June 13, 2016

[EXCLUSIVE] Korean prosecutors’ inaction stalls justice for ex-Deutsche traders accused of rigging

[THE INVESTOR] Key suspects in Korea’s biggest stock price manipulation case are living a not-so-secret life in Hong Kong and Australia, while Korean prosecutors have made hardly any efforts to bring them to justice, an investigation by The Korea Herald has found.The suspects are Derek Ong and Phillip Lonergan, two of the three former Deutsche Bank employees facing criminal charges in Korea in relation to a 2010 stock rout. Local authorities have failed to extradite the three -- nationals of the

June 13, 2016

Probe evaporates W1tr from Lotte firms’ market cap

[THE INVESTOR] The combined market capitalization of the nine Lotte Group firms listed on local markets dropped by more than 1 trillion won ($851.8 million) on Monday.The drop is thought to have been driven by the expanding corruption probe centered on the members of its founding family -- Shin Kyuk-ho and his two sons Shin Dong-joo and Shin Dong-bin. At the end of the market close on Monday, nine listed Lotte Group firms’ shares dropped compared to the closing prices on Friday. (The Korea Heral

June 13, 2016

LG Chem to supply desalination filters to Omani plant

[THE INVESTOR] LG Chem, one of Korea’s leading chemical companies, has been picked as the exclusive supplier of seawater filters for a desalination plant in Oman, the company said Monday. The LG Group affiliate said it would supply by the end of this year about 20,000 reverse osmosis desalination filters, which can process 250,000 tons of seawater a day, to the plant being built by water desalination plant operator Sohar SWRO in Sohar, Oman.The head office of LG Group in Seoul. (Yonhap)Reverse o

June 13, 2016

Shares of Lotte units plunge on prosecution probe

Shares of Lotte Group subsidiaries took a nosedive on Monday amid a widening prosecution probe into the conglomerate over suspicions of slush funds and other malfeasance.Flagship retail unit Lotte Shopping tumbled 5.38 percent to 211,000 won ($179.9) on the main bourse, and the chemicals subsidiary sank 3.91 percent to 258,000 won. In a regulatory filing earlier in the day, Lotte Chemical said it had withdrawn its bid to take over U.S.-based chemicals maker Axiall Corp. Lotte Confectionery plung

June 13, 2016