Casamia plans to list on KOSPI

[THE INVESTOR] Upscale home furnishing store chain Casamia plans to list its shares on Seoul’s main bourse KOSPI in August, the brand’s spokesperson said on July 18.The retail firm is expected to offer 3 million shares to the public with the IPO price ranging between 20,000 won (US$17.60) to 24,000 won per share. The size of the total offering will be in the range of 60 billion won to 72 billion won. A Casamia store at COEX, SeoulHanwha Investment & Securities will be the lead underwriter for th

July 18, 2016

S. Korea, Mongolia to work on trade agreement

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea and Mongolia are to push for a trade agreement. According to Seoul’s presidential office, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj agreed on the issue during their meeting on July 17. Seoul said that the two countries agreed to launch a feasibility study on forming an economic partnership agreement saying that the development was tantamount to the two nations working on a free trade agreement. The two nations will complete the

July 18, 2016

[EQUITIES] Solid footing in China to bolster AmorePacific’s Q2 earnings

[THE INVESTOR] AmorePacific, South Korea’s largest cosmetics maker, is expected to log strong second-quarter earnings thanks to its solid performance in China, a local securities firm BNK Securities said on July 18. On a consolidated basis, sales for the April-June quarter were estimated at 1.43 trillion won (US$1.26 billion), up 20 percent on-year while its operating profit will expand by 18.9 percent to 247.5 billion won, according to Lee Seung-eun, an analyst at BNK Securities. Three brands u

July 18, 2016

Household debt rises despite gov’t projections

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s household debt jumped more than 36 trillion won (US$ 31.70 billion) during the first five months of the year, Bank of Korea data showed. The rate of increase is higher than that recorded in the same period last year, in stark contrast to the government’s projections that the rate of increase will drop. According to the data, loans taken out by Korean households taken out from all depository institutions increased by 36.21 trillion won during the first five months of

July 18, 2016

[EQUITIES] Hyundai Glovis 2016 earnings estimates lowered by analyst

[THE INVESTOR] HMC Investment Securities lowered its annual sales forecast for Hyundai Glovis and cut its target price on the stock from 280,000 won (US$246.31) to 260,000 won on July 18. “We cut the company’s revenue estimate due to sluggish exports of cars manufactured here,” said Kang Dong-jin, an analyst at HMC Investment Securities. Automobiles are lined up to be loaded abroad a transport ship operated by Hyundai Glovis in Pyongtaek./ Hyundai GlovisThe securities company lowered its sales e

July 18, 2016

[EQUITIES]Low real estate transactions dent Hanssem’s Q2 earnings

[THE INVESTOR] Hanssem, South Korea’ s No. 1 furniture maker, failed to meet profit and revenue expectations in the second quarter, a local brokerage firm Mirae Asset Securities said on July 18. “Hanssem posted 435.1 billion won (US$382.81 million) in sales and 30.2 billion won in operation profit which lagged far behind market expectations,” said Lee Gwang-soo, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities. The biggest reason for the lackluster performance is dropped sales in kitchen interior items whic

July 18, 2016