Card spending up in Q3 amid fast vaccination

Card spending in South Korea grew in the third quarter from a year earlier as consumer sentiment improved amid expanded vaccination and relaxed social distancing rules, industry data showed Friday. Card spending came to about 248 trillion won ($212.2 billion) in the July-September period, up 8.6 percent from the same quarter a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Credit Finance Association. The growth was attributed to improving consumer sentiment bolstered by accelerated vaccin

Oct. 29, 2021

SK Innovation turns to black in Q3

SK Innovation Co. on Friday reported its third-quarter net income of 511 billion won ($436.6 million), shifting from a loss of 16.1 billion won a year earlier. Operating profit for the July-September period was 618.5 billion, compared with a loss of 53.6 billion won a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales rose 48.1 percent to 12.3 trillion won. The operating profit was 30.8 percent higher than the average estimate, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial dat

Oct. 29, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on Wall Street gains

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday as investor sentiment was uplifted by overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 14.25 points, or 0.47 percent, to 3,023.80 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.68 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 1.39 percent. In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electronics added 0.99 percent, and LG Electronics rose 5.74 percent and No. 2 chipmaker SK

Oct. 29, 2021

Production, consumption rebound in Sept. despite resurgence in virus cases

South Korea's industrial output and retail sales rebounded in September in the latest sign that economic recovery momentum has been maintained despite the fourth wave of the pandemic, data showed Friday. Industrial output rose 1.3 percent in September from the previous month, following a 0.2 percent on-month decline in August, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. From a year earlier, industrial output rose 1.4 percent. Retail sales, a gauge of private spending, also rebounded i

Oct. 29, 2021

Samsung Heavy to sell new shares to 6 group affiliates

Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Thursday it will allot part of new shares to six Samsung Group affiliates, including Samsung Electronics Co. Samsung Heavy Industries, suffering from continued losses, plans to raise 1.28 trillion won ($1.1 billion) by selling 250 million common shares at 5,130 won per share to repay its debt and develop eco-friendly shipbuilding technologies. Of them, 50 million shares, or 20 percent, have been sold to the company's workers for 256.5 billion won. Later in

Oct. 28, 2021

Kotra preparing for Korea pavilion at CES 2022

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said Thursday that it will take innovative products of small local companies to next year’s CES, the world’s largest tech show held annually in Las Vegas. For the Korean pavilion at the CES 2022, some 210 companies and 13 institutions will travel to the US, according to Kotra. Among them, some 14 local companies had a chance to showcase their latest products at Korea Electronics Show 2021, underway at Coex in southern Seoul, from Tuesda

Oct. 28, 2021

RaonWhiteHat wins spy agency’s cyberattack defense competition

South Korean IT security solutions provider RaonSecure said Thursday it has won a cyberattack defense competition hosted by the nation’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service. According to the firm, two teams led by ethical hackers from RaonWhiteHat, a subsidiary that provides consulting services on IT security, ranked No. 1 and No. 2 at 2021 Cyber Conflict Exercise & Contest. CCE is an annual cyberattack defense competition hosted by the NIS. Of 282 participants, 30 of tho

Oct. 28, 2021

[News Focus] ‘Pandemic relief will only help landlords’

A government program to compensate small businesses for losses incurred because of the social distancing guidelines will only end up fattening landlords’ wallets, critics said. Starting Wednesday, the government is accepting applications from pandemic-hit businesses and self-employed business owners for the 2.4 trillion won ($2.05 billion) cash subsidy plan. Under the program, business owners can get up to 80 percent of the money they lost as a result of following the government&rsqu

Oct. 28, 2021

[Newsmaker] Korean steelmakers report stellar earnings on rising steel prices

Korean steelmakers witnessed their highest-ever profits in the third quarter this year, backed by strong sales due to surging steel prices. On Thursday, Hyundai Steel announced a 2,374 percent jump in operating profit to 826.2 billion won ($705 million) for the July-September period via a regulatory filing. Consolidated sales increased by 31.3 percent on-year to reach 5.86 trillion won, while the operating profit margin also increased to a record two-digit score of 14.1 percent, the company

Oct. 28, 2021

LG Electronics hits record high Q3 sales, 49.6% decline in operating profit

LG Electronics hit a new high in quarterly sales in the third quarter, owing to the continued consumption in the consumer electronics sector under the pandemic, the company announced Thursday. The tech giant, the largest home appliance provider in South Korea, posted 18.78 trillion won ($16.1 billion) in sales, the highest-ever in the firm’s history. Compared to the same quarter last year, sales soared 22 percent. But the Q3 operating profit stood at 540.7 billion won, a 49.6 perce

Oct. 28, 2021

HHIH Q3 net profit up 28.6% on equity gains in shipbuilding units

Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. (HHIH) said Thursday that its third-quarter net income rose 28.6 percent from a year earlier on gains from equity investment in subsidiaries. Net profit came to 44.5 billion won ($38 million) in the July-September period, compared with 34.6 billion won in the same period a year ago. "The strong performance came from a turnaround in the shipbuilding units and robust earnings of refining subsidiary," the company said in an emailed statement. Opera

Oct. 28, 2021

Local EV consortium picked as preferred bidder for SsangYong Motor

A South Korean consortium led by local electric carmaker Edison Motors Co. has been selected as the preferred bidder to acquire SsangYong Motor Co., the company said Thursday. SsangYong and the court-appointed lead manager EY Hanyoung accounting firm submitted an official document for the selection of the Edison consortium for the debt-laden carmaker last week and the court approved the preferred bidder early this week, a company official said over the phone. SsangYong and EY Hanyoung will sig

Oct. 28, 2021

Court grants injunction to nullify Namyang Dairy chief’s voting rights

A local court granted an injunction request by South Korean buyout firm Hahn & Co. to block Namyang Dairy Products Chairman Hong Won-sik from exercising his voting rights, noting that a sales and purchase agreement between the two parties is valid, according to a recent ruling obtained by The Korea Herald Thursday. The court’s decision indicated that Hong and his family members had failed to present evidence of Hahn & Co.’s breach of nondisclosure agreement, unlawful interv

Oct. 28, 2021

SK Innovation, Solid Power to co-develop, produce solid-state batteries

SK Innovation and Solid Power will co-develop and produce solid-state batteries that are 33 percent more powerful than conventional lithium-ion batteries, the two companies said Thursday. The South Korean battery-to-petrochemical giant and the US-based battery startup will manufacture solid-state batteries with energy density of at least 930 watt-hours per liter, which would increase the driving range of electric vehicles to 930 kilometers on a single charge. Solid Power is one of the world&

Oct. 28, 2021

LG Electronics Q3 net profit down 20.4% on Bolt EV recall costs

LG Electronics Inc. said Thursday its net profit dropped 20.4 percent on-year in the third quarter due to costs incurred in a recall of General Motor's Bolt electric vehicles. The South Korean tech giant said in a regulatory filing that net income came to 516.5 billion won ($440 million) in the July-September, down from 649.2 billion won during the same period of last year. LG Electronics said the recall of General Motor's Bolt electric vehicles hurt its bottom line. LG Electronics said its t

Oct. 28, 2021

Post-retirement poverty threatens Korea’s growth, investment guru says

Poverty among retired South Koreans, coupled with the fast-paced aging of the country’s population, is leaving the national economic growth engine prone to a slowdown, an investment guru said Wednesday. Individuals in Korea -- a nation where 4 out of 10 people aged over 65 are estimated to live in relative income poverty -- must learn to take control of their finances so they can build wealth that lasts until retirement, said John Lee, chief executive officer of Meritz Asset Management,

Oct. 28, 2021

Shinsegae Group vice chairman buys $19.2 million Beverly Hills mansion: report

Shinsegae Group heir and vice chairman Chung Yong-jin has reportedly purchased a mansion worth 22.5 billion won ($19.2 million) in Beverly Hills, California. According to online US real estate media outlet Dirt, Chung has “purchased a lavish home in the affluent Flats neighborhood of Beverly Hills.” The seller was Aan Sinanta, an Indonesian coal mining tycoon, who paid $12.6 million for the property back in 2012, the website reported. The gated property, which was built in 2012, h

Oct. 28, 2021

Seoul stocks down for 2nd day on inflation concerns

South Korean stocks retreated for a second straight day Thursday, weighed down by concerns about the increasing inflationary pressure. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) slumped 15.94 points, or 0.53 percent, to close at 3,009.55 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 608 million shares worth some 12.2 trillion won ($10.4 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 661 to 210. Foreigners sold a net 249 billion won worth of s

Oct. 28, 2021

0.1 percent of companies account for 51.3% of output: data

Big companies account for just 0.1 percent of all businesses in South Korea, but they generate 51.3 percent of total output, a report showed Thursday. According to data from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, 99.9 percent of domestic enterprises were small and medium sized ones, employing 82.7 percent of the country’s total employed population as of 2019. Compared to a year earlier, the number of SMEs rose 3.8 percent to 6.89 million. The number of employees in SMEs increased by 2 per

Oct. 28, 2021

Stiglitz urges regulators to shut down cryptocurrencies

Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz on Thursday urged regulators around the world to shut down cryptocurrencies, saying it undermines the basis of financial systems as well as its pursuit of transparency. Speaking at a forum hosted by the Seoul city government, the economic professor at Columbia University also suggested market transparency and well-designed regulations as prerequisites for the city to become a global financial hub. “(Cryptocurrencies) are becoming significan

Oct. 28, 2021