Kakao Bank's Q3 profit jumps 21% on higher interest income

South Korean online lender Kakao Bank said Wednesday its net profit jumped 21 percent from a year earlier in the third quarter, helped by higher interest income. Third-quarter net profit came to 94.5 billion won ($72.7 million), up 21.2 percent from a year earlier, Kakao Bank said in a regulatory filing. Revenue surged 59.4 percent on-year to 656.6 billion won, with operating income growing 21.9 percent on-year to 127.5 billion won, it said. In the first nine months of the year, Kakao Bank said

Nov. 8, 2023

Hahn & Co. to acquire SKC’s fine ceramics biz for W360b

Hahn & Co., one of the largest private equity firms in Korea, announced Tuesday it had signed a definitive agreement with SKC, a semiconductor material arm under SK Group, to acquire its fine ceramics business for 360 billion won ($267 million). The company said SKC is a major player in the semiconductor industry with its fine ceramics business producing high-purity quartz and silicon carbide consumable materials crucial for manufacturing advanced chips. “SKC’s fine ceramics busi

Oct. 31, 2023

Korea Investment & Securities joins hands with Carlyle

South Korean brokerage house Korea Investment & Securities has partnered with global private equity firm Carlyle Group, seeking to globalize its investment portfolio. The Korean firm said Monday it signed a strategic partnership with Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm with $385 billion of assets under management as of June. Korea Investment & Securities CEO Jung Il-moon and Harvey Schwartz, CEO of Carlyle Group, attended a signing ceremony held Friday in Seoul. Through the par

Oct. 30, 2023

Shinhan Card's Kazakh unit secures $60m funding from IFC

Shihan Finance, Shinhan Card’s subsidiary in Kazakhstan, has secured a $60 million investment from the International Finance Corporation, the Korean car issuers under Shinhan Financial Group said Wednesday. The latest funding is the first of its kind announced since Shinhan Financial Group and the IFC signed a memorandum of understanding in May this year to cooperate in environmental, social and governance projects. Of the $60 million, some $20 million will be used first to fund the compan

Oct. 25, 2023

Hyundai Motor partners with IUCN for forest project in Vietnam

Hyundai Motor Co. said Wednesday it has partnered with the International Union for Conservation of Nature for a forest restoration project in Vietnam. The company's Vietnamese joint venture HTV and the IUCN, along with Seoul-based development non-governmental organization Good Neighbors International, signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday for the mangrove tree forest project in Ca Mau province in Vietnam's Mekong Delta region. Through the partnership, Hyundai will plant mangrove

Oct. 25, 2023

Korean Air to retain Asiana workers after takeover: sources

Korean Air Co. has decided to retain workers of Asiana Airlines Inc. on condition that Asiana agrees to sell its cargo business to win antitrust approval from European Union regulators for the two carriers' merger, industry sources said Monday. According to the sources, Korean Air, the larger of South Korea's two full-service airlines, plans to seek approval for the decision to retain Asiana Airlines' workers at a company board meeting scheduled next Monday. The decision comes as

Oct. 23, 2023

Mirae Asset seeks generational change in leadership reshuffle

Mirae Asset Financial Group announced a massive reshuffle at the executive level on Monday, signaling a generational shift in leadership as its founding members are to step down. Mirae Asset Securities CEO and Chairman Choi Hyun-man, the group’s No. 2 man, will leave the firm 26 years after he co-founded the group together with Group Chairman Park Hyeon-joo back in 1997. Having served top posts at key affiliates, Choi was named the chairman of the brokerage firm in December 2021. Along wit

Oct. 23, 2023

Mirae Asset Securities to buy back shares worth W60b

Mirae Asset Securities, Korea's largest investment bank and securities firm, said it plans to initiate a share buyback program worth 60.2 billion won ($44 million) in an effort to boost shareholders’ value, the firm said Wednesday. The firm will repurchase its 10 million shares, which is equivalent to some 2.1 percent of the market cap, over a three-month period from Thursday to Jan. 18 through intraday trading. The firm’s market cap stands at 3.83 trillion won as of Thursday.

Oct. 19, 2023

Kia management, union reach tentative wage deal to avoid strike

The management and labor union of Kia Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, have reached a tentative wage deal to avoid a partial strike, according to the company Tuesday. The agreement was reached after unionized workers of Hyundai Motor Co. voted last month to accept this year's wage deal, averting a strike for the fifth consecutive year. Unionized workers of Kia had planned to go on a partial strike from this week unless it reached a wage deal. The union plans to vote wheth

Oct. 17, 2023

Wage talks between Kia, labor union fail again

The labor union of Kia Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, said Sunday it has failed to settle wage talks with the company again, raising the possibility of it staging a partial strike starting later this week. Unless the two sides resume negotiations and reach an agreement by Tuesday, the union is expected to go on an eight-hour strike from Tuesday to Thursday and a 12-hour walkout on Oct. 20 as planned. The move by Kia's union came as unionized workers of Hyundai Motor Co.

Oct. 15, 2023

LG Chem, GS Caltex to produce prototype of material for biodegradable plastics

LG Chem Ltd. and GS Caltex Corp. plan to produce a prototype of a material for biodegradable plastics next year, as they step up cooperation for the development of the eco-friendly raw material, the companies said Friday. LG Chem and GS Caltex signed an agreement in 2021 to develop technology for the production of the material called 3-Hydroxypropionic Acid (3HP). Plastic made from 3HP can be used to replace various disposable materials. In July of last year, they started construction on a plant

Oct. 13, 2023

Big firms' debt-service ability dips in H1

Large South Korean firms' ability to service their debts worsened sharply in the first half of 2023 amid falling profits and soaring interest costs, a corporate tracker said Tuesday. The interest coverage ratio for 347 out of the country's top 500 companies by sales averaged 1.16 as of end-June, down 74 percent from 4.42 a year earlier, according to the Leaders Index. The ratio is obtained by dividing a company's operating profit by its interest expenses. A reading below 1 means t

Oct. 10, 2023

Samsung, LG, Hyundai closely monitoring potential biz fallout from Israel-Hamas conflict

Leading South Korean companies are keeping close tabs on the potential business fallout from the escalating conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, industry sources said Monday, though no damage has yet been reported among firms operating in the Middle Eastern country. According to industry officials, Samsung Electronics has initiated a remote work scheme for their employees in the country and are regularly checking the safety of their workers. Samsung runs a research and

Oct. 9, 2023

Korean Air cancels Incheon-Tel Aviv flights this week over Israel-Hamas conflict

  Korean Air has canceled its flights from Incheon to Tel Aviv this week amid safety concerns over the escalating conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, according to company officials Monday. South Korea's leading air carrier has canceled all three KE957 flights from Incheon to Tel Aviv, which run regularly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, for the week. The company, however, has kept in place the returning KE958 flights, which transport passengers from Tel Aviv to

Oct. 9, 2023

Hana chief stresses sustainable financing in Europe

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo highlighted the importance of sustainable financing during his meeting with the Dutch ambassador for sustainable development in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday. The Hana chief met with Ambassador Rene van Hell as part of his visit to Europe to meet with global investors. According to Hana, Ham and van Hell agreed on the need for "green financing" to transition to a decarbonized economy, in particular cutting down on carbon emissions in asset p

Oct. 9, 2023

MBK chairman's novel 'Offerings' to hit big screen in Hollywood

The 2022 US best-selling novel "Offerings," authored by Korean-American Michael Byung-ju Kim, co-founder and chairman of South Korea's largest private equity fund, MBK Partners, is set to be adapted into a film, according to the company on Monday. Hollywood production company Anonymous Content, known for hits like "True Detective" and "The Revenant," is teaming up with Anthology Studios, co-founded by director Kim Jee-woon and actor Song Kang-ho, for the adapti

Oct. 9, 2023

[Photo News] Whiskey in vogue

(From left) Richard Quinn, an English fashion designer and a brand collaborator for Pernod Ricardo Korea; Frantz Hotton, CEO of Pernod Ricardo Korea; Mathieu Deslandes, head of Royal Salute; and Miguel Pascual, chief financial officer of Pernod Ricardo, pose for a photo to celebrate the global debut of the second edition of Royal Salute 21 Year Old Richard Quinn in Seoul on Wednesday. The whisky’s world premiere comes against the backdrop of significant growth in high-end wines and whiskie

Oct. 4, 2023

Lotte names ex-Samsung exec as new design chief

South Korean retail giant Lotte Group on Wednesday named Lee Don-tae, former president of the Samsung Art and Design Institute, as its new head of design strategy. Upon his appointment, Lotte announced that its Lotte Design Management Center has been rebranded as the Lotte Design Strategy Center. Lee will be responsible for overseeing the overall design direction and strategy of Lotte, as well as consulting on key projects across its affiliates. Born in 1968, Lee started his career in 1989 at Ta

Sept. 27, 2023

LG chief convenes CEO meeting to review growth strategy

LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo reportedly convened some 30 CEOs on Tuesday to discuss the group's longer-term strategies ahead of the weeklong Chuseok holiday. Top executives of key affiliates, including LG Electronics, LG Display, LG Innotek, LG Chem and LG Energy Solution, attended the annual workshop that took place at LG Academy in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, according to news reports. For Koo who took office in 2019, this marked the fifth occasion to convene the meeting. The event was h

Sept. 26, 2023

Hanwha Life posts first accumulated profits in Vietnam

The Vietnamese arm of Hanwha Life Insurance posted its first accumulated profits since its launch 15 years ago. Marking the local unit’s 15th anniversary, the insurer held a ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Friday, where it unveiled its financial achievements. Since posting a net profit for the first time in 2016, the Vietnamese subsidiary has recorded profits for nearly five consecutive years between 2019 and 2023. As of the first half of this year, its accumulated profits reached

Aug. 21, 2023