Samsung puts Q1 operating profit at 5.9 tln won

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. estimated its first-quarter operating profit at 5.9 trillion won ($5.44 billion) on Tuesday, which beat a market consensus and pointed to a recovery in its earnings.  The operating profit was up 11.53 percent from the 5.29 trillion won for the October-December period of 2014 but down 30.51 percent from the 8.49 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.  The estimate hovered far above the median forecast of 5.47 trillion

April 7, 2015

Samsung receives top environmental prize from U.S. government

Samsung Electronics received a top prize in this year's environmental award organized by the U.S. government, becoming the first South Korean electronics company to receive the award for three consecutive years, the South Korean tech giant said Monday.  Samsung won the "sustained excellence" prize in the 2015 Energy Star Award organized by the Environmental Protection Agency, the company said in a statement. The honor is the highest prize given to companies credited for high energy-efficient pro

April 7, 2015

Hyundai, Kia see cumulative sales in China surpass 10 mln units

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's top automaker, and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. said Monday that they have sold over 10 million vehicles in China, a milestone achieved in just 13 years since its entry into the market.The two said that their cumulative sales in China came to 10,000,776 units as of last Friday, topping the 10 million mark for the first time since its debut there in 2002.Hyundai Motor has sold some 6.55 million vehicles in China, while Kia Motors has sold about 3.45 mill

April 6, 2015

Hanwha wins $2.12 bln infrastructure deal in Iraq

Hanwha Group, a South Korean chemicals and financial conglomerate, said Monday it has clinched a $2.12 billion order to build the infrastructure for a new city currently under construction in Iraq.The agreement signed with Iraq's National Investment Commission calls for Hanwha Engineering & Construction Corp., the building arm of the conglomerate, to build the social infrastructure as part of the company's Bismayah New City project in the Middle Eastern country, the group said in a press release

April 6, 2015

Samsung signs on as sponsor for PyeongChang Winter Games

South Korean conglomerate Samsung Group on Monday signed on as a sponsor for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.Samsung, which is also among the global Top Olympic Partners for the International Olympic Committee, reached an agreement worth 100 billion won ($91.9 million).PyeongChang, an alpine town located 180 kilometers east of Seoul, will host the country's first Winter Games in 2018. Samsung Group is the sixth corporate sponsor for the PyeongChang Winter Games, joined by the likes of Korea

April 6, 2015

Chaebol owners slip through loopholes of pay disclosure rule

With the analysis of executive compensation in full swing, the highest-paid CEO in South Korea is a seasonal celebrity at best -- envied by peers, sometimes attacked by corporate gadflies.   For some owners of the nation's family-controlled conglomerates who don't want to attract attention to how much they earn, there's a way: Leave the board of directors.  In South Korea, companies are required to release the salary information of executives who earn more than 500 million won ($454,000) a year

April 3, 2015

Unionized workers of Samsung Techwin vow to strike on Hanwha deal

The unionized workers of Samsung Techwin Co., one of four affiliates of Samsung Group that will be handed over to Hanwha Group this year, on Thursday said they have agreed to launch a strike in protest of the group's decision.The move came as 88.9 percent of the union's 2,998 members voted in support of the strike, while only 72 members opposed.   "We are not immediately jumping into the strike," a union official said, adding the details, including the schedule, will be decided in the future.  I

April 3, 2015

Amore Pacific chief becomes No. 2 stock-rich person

Suh Kyung-bae, chairman of South Korea's top cosmetic maker Amore Pacific Group, has overtaken Samsung Group's heir-apparent to become South Korea's second-richest man in stock value, climbing the stock-rich ladder by one notch, market data showed Thursday.At the end of March, Suh's stocks were valued at $8 billion, or 8.8 trillion won. The second richest man in South Korea relegated Lee Jay-yong, vice chairman of South Korean tech firm Samsung Electronics Co., to a third spot, according to the

April 2, 2015

15 pct of Samsung Electronics execs quit job amid profit slump: data

More than a hundred executives at Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea's No. 1 tech giant, left their posts between late last year and the first quarter of 2015, data showed Thursday, in what seems to be an aftereffect of the lackluster performance in 2014 smartphone sales.  The number of unregistered executives at the world's top smartphone and memory chipmaker had stood at 1,219 in the quarter ending in September 2014, according to the company's half-yearly report filed with the Financial Supe

April 2, 2015

Ex-Coca Cola exec joins Samsung to head global mobile marketing

South Korean tech behemoth Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday it has hired a former top executive at Coca Cola Co. to lead its global marketing for the sagging mobile division.Pio Schunker, the former North American marketing executive of the U.S. beverage maker, will start working at Samsung's Seoul headquarters from April as a new global marketing director for the IT and mobile division, Samsung said, adding he will bolster the promotion of its latest smartphone Galaxy S6 series due out earl

March 31, 2015

Samsung's Q1 profit forecast to gain 2.36 pct on-quarter

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to see its first-quarter operating profit rise more than 2 percent on-quarter on strong performances of its flat-panel and chip divisions, analysts said Tuesday, Samsung is likely to post an operating profit of 5.41 trillion won ($4.89 billion) in the January-March period, up 2.36 percent from the 5.29 trillion won posted in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to the median estimate of local analysts compiled by market tracker WISEfn.

March 31, 2015

Samsung Electronics to launch flexible work hour system next month

South Korea's tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday it will implement a full-fledged flexible work hour system starting in April, adding it will also be applied to overseas branches in the near future.Under the plan, employees are given the choice of when to come and leave their offices and are only obligated to work at least four hours a day, 40 hours a week. "The new policy is expected to foster employees' creativity," a Samsung official said. The move came a month after Samsung sugg

March 31, 2015

NS Shopping fizzles out in Seoul market debut

Shares of NS Shopping Co., a South Korean home shopping mall that specializes in food, gave back most of its opening gains in its Seoul market debut on Friday as investors remained cautious over its business outlook.The shares, which drew attention as the country's largest initial public offering this year, opened trade at 221,500 won ($200.42), below the top of its marketed range at 235,000 won. They jumped as much as 11.82 percent but shed their earlier gains to close at 215,500 won, up 1.89 p

March 27, 2015

LG opens new production complex in Vietnam

LG Electronics Inc., South Korea's No. 2 tech giant, opened a new production base in Vietnam on Friday that will manufacture the company's key products for exports, the company said.Located in Haiphong, a northern port city of the country, the 800,000-square-meter Vietnam Haiphong Campus will allow LG to produce price-competitive electronics goods, including its globally-sold smartphones and TVs, the company said. It plans to spend $1.5 billion on the complex through 2028.LG's existing factory i

March 27, 2015

Keangnam Enterprises files for court receivership

South Korean builder Keangnam Enterprises, currently under a debt workout program, filed for court receivership on Friday, after its creditors rejected the company's request for additional financial support.The Seoul Central District Court said it has received the builder's application for the court debt-workout program.Earlier in the day, creditor banks of the cash-stripped builder turned down its petition for an additional 110 billion won ($99.2 million) in operating funds. The creditors, led

March 27, 2015

Ex-POSCO E&C exec's home raided over alleged slush fund

Prosecutors on Friday raided the home of a former vice president of POSCO Engineering & Construction Co. (POSCO E&C) over allegations that he helped create a slush fund in Vietnam a few years ago.Chung Dong-hwa allegedly helped the company's Vietnamese operations stash away about 10 billion won (US$9 million) in a secret reserve between 2009 and 2012, prosecutors said, adding he appears to have transferred 4 billion won back to South Korea.An internal audit within the company had found the exist

March 27, 2015

Creditors reject Keangnam Enterprises' call for additional support

Creditors of South Korean builder Keangnam Enterprises, currently under a debt workout program, said Friday they have rejected the company's request for additional financial support and a debt-to-equity swap scheme.The company was to file for court receivership later in the day.Last week, the cash-strapped builder had asked for an additional 110 billion won ($99.2 million) in operating funds after the creditors, led by policy lender Export-Import Bank of Korea, had poured in 2.2 trillion won for

March 27, 2015

NS Shopping goes public on Seoul bourse

NS Shopping Co., South Korea's home shopping mall that specializes in food, was listed on the Seoul bourse on Friday, the country's largest initial public offering this year. NS Shopping opened trade at 221,500 won ($200.42), below the top of its marketed range at 235,000 won. Its shares jumped 8.75 percent in the first 20 minutes of trading in the benchmark KOSPI market.The company is 40.17 percent owned by Harim Holdings Co., the nation's largest poultry producer, and is the fourth home shoppi

March 27, 2015

LG set to launch new flagship smartphone at end-April: sources

South Korea's No. 2 handset maker, LG Electronics Inc., is set to roll out its next flagship smartphone at end-April, seeking to take on its bigger rival Samsung Electronics Co., which will also release new Galaxy smartphones in two weeks, industry sources said Friday.Presumably the G4, the smartphone is expected to come with an Quad HD display in the 5-inch range like its predecessor, the G3, but with a curved touch, according to the sources.Analysts said the G4 may become a gamechanger for LG,

March 27, 2015

Car parts manufacturers fined 3.5 bln won for price rigging

South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Thursday it has slapped 3.5 billion won ($3.2 million) in fines against car parts suppliers found to have engaged in illegal cartel activities.The Fair Trade Commission said two Japanese companies and local subsidiaries, as well as a local manufacturer were found to have rigged prices in the past in violation of the country's anti-collusion rules.The companies supplied parts to Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. that effectively control around 75 percent

March 26, 2015