Hyundai Motor Q1 net nearly triples amid pandemic

Hyundai Motor Co. said Thursday its first-quarter net profit nearly tripled compared to a year earlier on a base effect and an improved product mix. Net profit for the three months that ended in March jumped to 1.52 trillion won ($1.36 billion) from 552.68 billion won a year ago, the company said in a statement. The net result exceeded the median forecast of 1.32 trillion won by local brokerages. In the first quarter, Hyundai suspended some of its assembly lines in Korea due to shortages of p

April 22, 2021

Hana sets W60tr goal for ESG plan by 2030

South Korea’s Hana Financial Group announced Thursday it has set a goal to pour 60 trillion won ($53.7 billion) into its long-term environmental, social and governance finance plan. Under its ESG financing blueprint, the group will issue relevant bonds worth 25 trillion won, loans worth 25 trillion won, fund management worth 2 trillion won and other related investments worth 10 trillion won by 2030. In line with its ESG financing goals, Hana aims to achieve carbon neutrality in its int

April 22, 2021

LG Household & Health Care Q1 net up 10.5% on brisk sales

South Korean household goods and cosmetics maker LG Household & Health Care Ltd. said Thursday its first-quarter net profit rose more than 10 percent on robust sales despite the coronavirus pandemic. Net income came to 258.8 billion won ($231.9 million) in the January-March period, up 10.5 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Its operating profit expanded 11 percent on-year to 370.6 billion won. Sales climbed 7.4 percent to 2.04 trillion won. The operating

April 22, 2021

Samsung to introduce BESPOKE HOME products globally next month

Samsung Electronics Co. will introduce its expanded lineup of customizable home appliances to global audiences next month as the South Korean tech giant aims to boost sales amid the pandemic-driven stay-at-home trend. Samsung sent media invitations on Wednesday for its BESPOKE HOME online event on May 11 to showcase its latest products and technologies that can enrich users' home experiences. BESPOKE is a brand promoted by Samsung that allows consumers to tailor their own configurations by mat

April 22, 2021

Banks' loan delinquency rate edges up in February

The delinquency rate for South Korean banks' won-denominated loans inched up in February from the previous month, the financial regulator said Thursday. The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.33 percent at the end of February, up 0.02 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, the bank loan delinquency rate was up 0.1 percentage point. Banks' loan delinquency rate remains stable mainly bec

April 22, 2021

Won-based export settlements edge down in 2020

The portion of South Korean exports settled using the country's currency inched down in 2020 from a year ago, data showed Thursday. The use of the won accounted for 2.5 percent of all export settlements last year, down 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The slight decline was attributed to Washington's economic sanctions on Tehran for its nuclear program, which led to decreased use of the won in settling exports to the Middle East. Wo

April 22, 2021

Women suffer greater employment shock than men amid pandemic: report

South Korean women have suffered employment strains more than men amid the pandemic as job posts in the in-person service segment, hard hit by the virus outbreak, sharply eroded, a report showed Thursday. The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a severe blow to married women in the labor force, compared with previous economic turmoil when married men suffered sharp job losses, according to the report by the Korea Development Institute (KDI). The number of employed women aged between 25 and 54 declined

April 22, 2021

Impact investing scene faces call for measurement tool

South Korea’s impact investing scene is facing a call for a standardized tool to measure the social impact a startup generates via its business, as the demand to address social challenges is on the rise and more young entrepreneurs are looking to take on the challenges. Such a tool is key to leveraging social ventures’ impact and sustaining their solution for international problems in the long run, in order to assure investors that their investment goes to the right social ventures,

April 22, 2021

Shinhan Asset to shy away from domestic equities with low ESG scores

Seoul-based Shinhan Asset Management said Thursday it plans to implement an equity investing framework associated with the environmental, social and governance factors for its domestic large-cap equity funds. Starting in May, 16 publicly pooled domestic equity funds managed by the fifth-largest asset management firm in South Korea must have at least 70 percent exposure to stocks that received the integrated ESG ratings of “BB” or above. The same strategy has so far been exercised

April 22, 2021

Container cargo volume at seaports up 1.3% in Q1

The volume of container cargo processed at South Korea's seaports rose 1.3 percent on-year in the first quarter of 2021 as global trade continued to recover from economic jitters sparked by the new coronavirus pandemic, the country's oceans ministry said Thursday. Container cargo processed at the seaports reached 7.29 million twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) in the January-March period, rising from the previous year's 7.19 TEUs, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. TEU stands

April 22, 2021

Daily turnover of securities market jumps 18.5% in Q1

The daily turnover of South Korea's securities market soared more than 18 percent in the first quarter amid a stock market rally, data showed Thursday. According to the Korea Securities Depository, the daily amount of local stock and bond transactions settled by the agency averaged 30.7 trillion won ($27.5 billion) in the January-March period, up 18.5 percent from three months earlier. Compared with a year earlier, the daily turnover was up 6.9 percent. The average daily turnover of the count

April 22, 2021

S. Korea to invest W114tr by 2030 to expand railway network

South Korea will invest 114.7 trillion won ($102.7 billion) over the next decade to expand the railway network for major cities across the nation, the transport ministry said Thursday. The fourth nationwide railway plan aims to extend the railway from the current 4,274 kilometers to 5,137 km by 2030 to allow people to travel across the nation in less than three hours, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation said. The project would raise the railway transportation capacity to ab

April 22, 2021

Hankook Tire supplies tires for Porsche sports car

Hankook Tire & Technology Co., the world's seventh-largest tiremaker by sales, said Thursday it began to supply tires for the Porsche 718 Boxter this year. Hankook Tire has provided the high-performance Ventus S1 evo 3 tires for the sports car since early this year, the company said in a statement. The company did not provide the exact time frame for the supply deal or the value of the deal. It has provided its original equipment (OE) tires for Porsche's Macan SUV, Cayenne SUV, and elect

April 22, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on bargain hunting

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday as investors sought to buy oversold stocks after the benchmark index took a breather the previous session. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 20.69 points, or 0.65 percent, to 3,192.35 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks came to a strong start after the Kospi slumped 1.52 percent the previous session under increased valuation pressure. Investor sentiment remained strong, backed by rosy speculations about soli

April 22, 2021

Jeju Air to resume flights to Saipan next month

Jeju Air Co., South Korea's biggest budget carrier by sales, said Thursday it will resume flights to Saipan late next month in a preemptive measure to absorb post-coronavirus travel demand. Jeju Air plans to reopen the Incheon-Saipan route on May 28 upon permission from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, a company spokesman said over the phone. "The transport ministry is in consultations with the health authorities to decide whether to approve one flight a week on the r

April 22, 2021

Samsung SDS swings to black in Q1

Samsung SDS Co., an IT service unit of Samsung Group, on Thursday said it swung to the black in the first quarter of 2021 on the back of robust cloud business and logistics platform projects. The company reported net profit of 158.5 billion won ($141.7 million) in the January-March period, shifting from a loss of 30.3 billion won a year earlier. Its operating profit jumped 26.8 percent on-year to 217.1 billion won, while sales rose 25.7 percent on-year to 3.06 trillion won in the first three m

April 22, 2021

[Exclusive] SK Telecom plans M&A, foray into nonmemory chip market: CEO

SK Telecom, South Korea’s No. 1 mobile carrier, aims to grow into a global key player in nonmemory chip design and is on the lookout for acquisition targets, its chief executive officer said Wednesday. Speaking exclusively to The Korea Herald, SKT CEO Park Jung-ho said, “SK Telecom will take the lead in development of nonmemory chips, helping SK hynix (expand into the overall semiconductor market).” The SKT chief doubles as vice chairman of SK hynix, the world’s third

April 21, 2021

Naver Webtoon eyes IPO in US

Naver is considering listing its web cartoon in the US as part of efforts to go global, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday. Naver’s chief financial officer Park Sang-jin said the company is eyeing more dollar bond sales and a possible future US initial public offering for Naver Webtoon, according to the wire service. “To grow, it’s inevitable that we go global,” Park was quoted as saying. “We should find business opportunities and meet capable partners to suppleme

April 21, 2021

[Feature] Korea’s aging society faces burden of rising debts, heavy taxes

Cho Young-eun, a 68-year-old retiree in Seoul, thought she would have a comfortable life in the years ahead. She and her husband had an apartment to live in, and a pension and savings to cover their daily expenses. But her expectations were shattered when she learned about the tax hike on her home in Gangnam last month. She paid around 4 million won ($3,577) in comprehensive real estate taxes last year but might have to pay nearly 3 million won extra this year and 7.5 million won more next y

April 21, 2021

FTC digs into Google’s disputed app billing

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog set out to investigate US-based tech giant Google on its enforcement of the disputed “in-app billing” system, responding to market backlash that the given payment system is an abuse of power by a market monopolizer. The Fair Trade Commission has recently placed a research and service order to figure out ways to restore fair competion in the mobile app market, officials said Wednesday. The research will involve interviews with app developers on

April 21, 2021