[EQUITIES] Korea Investment & Securities sees improved Q2 earnings for Naver

[THE INVESTOR] Korea Investment & Securities on July said it expects Naver to show improved performance in the second quarter of this year.The brokerage said the nation’s top search engine would post a 58 percent increase in operating profit, at 264.1 billion won (US$231.74 million), while sales will climb 26.3 percent to 986.5 billion won.Korea Investment said the seasonal factors, along with the sale of LINE Corp.’s new ad, Timeline, is expected to help bolster Naver’s earnings.Line’s second-q

July 18, 2016

Moody’s to be sole owner of Korea Investors Service

[THE INVESTOR] Moody’s Investors Service will become sole owner of Korea Investors Service, local media reported on July 18. According to reports, NICE Holdings agreed to sell all Korea Investors Service shares held by its subsidiary NICE Infra to Moody’s. NICE Infra currently holds one share less than half of Korea Investors Service. Once the deal is complete, Korea Investors Service will wholly owned by Moody’s. The global ratings agency first acquired a stake in Korea Investors Service in 199

July 18, 2016

[EQUITIES] Top drug makers to miss analysts Q2 expectations on growing R&D costs

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s major pharmaceutical companies are likely to post weaker-than-expected earnings for the second quarter of 2016, a local securities firm Shinhan Investment said on July 18.“Combined earnings of 10 major drug manufactures will stay around last year’s level at 115.8 billion won (US$119 million), missing the market expectation of 128 billion won,” Bae Ki-dal, an analyst at Shinhan Investment. 123rfThe analyst attributed the slow growth to declining technology exports and

July 18, 2016