Sign of an exit? Hahn & Co. moves to reduce Ssangyong Cement capital

Ssangyong Cement Industry has proposed reducing its equity capital to pursue higher dividend and enhance shareholder value. Market watchers say the move makes the case for a possible exit of South Korea‘s second-largest private equity house Hahn & Co. from the nation’s No. 1 cement maker by market share. Ssangyong Cement on Tuesday proposed to reduce equity capital to one-tenth to 50.4 billion won ($42.4 million) by November. As a result, the remainder, 455 billion won, will t

Sept. 4, 2020

Seoul stocks open sharply lower on Wall Street plunge

South Korean shares opened sharply lower Friday, taking a cue from an overnight plunge on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 39.52 points, or 1.65 percent, to 2,356.38 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Thursday (New York time), Wall Street was roiled by panic selling as investors dumped tech stocks. The tech-laden Nasdaq 500 plummeted 598.34 points, or 4.96 percent, to 11,458.1, marking the steepest fall since June. The Dow Jones Industrial Ave

Sept. 4, 2020

How to become a shareholder in BTS label Big Hit

The recent news that the music label behind K-pop sensation BTS was going public thrilled not only market watchers and investors but also the boy band’s fans around the globe, collectively known as “Army.” While Big Hit Entertainment is anticipated to be listed on South Korea’s main bourse, Kospi, in October, there are two ways that potential retail investors can acquire the entertainment management agency’s stocks -- putting in preorder deposits for a public subs

Sept. 3, 2020

[Herald Interview] QuantaMatrix seeks October IPO for overseas entry

Amid growing investor interest in the bio and health care industries, a local microbial diagnostic test developer is planning an initial public offering next month. QuantaMatrix, a spin-off of Seoul National University’s biophotonics and nanoengineering lab, is anticipated to list on the nation’s tech-heavy Kosdaq market. Its market debut is meant to take the lead in global clinical microbiology diagnostics, said Kwon Sung-hoon, chief executive officer of QuantaMatrix, in an interv

Sept. 3, 2020

BTS impact spills over into Korean stock market

With Big Hit Entertainment, the label behind K-pop sensation BTS, pursuing an initial public offering next month, investors appear to be increasingly drawn to South Korea’s entertainment stocks. Some market analysts also painted a rosy picture of the scheduled IPO, forecasting that Big Hit will continue the momentum created in the market thanks to offerings of pharmaceutical firm SK Biopharmaceuticals and game publisher Kakao Games. The news of Big Hit filing an application for its mar

Sept. 3, 2020

Kyobo chief to chair 2024 Youth Olympic committee

Shin Chang-jae, chairman of Kyobo Life Insurance, has been named the organizing chief for the Youth Olympic Games, a quadrennial global sports event that is to be held here in 2024, the company said Thursday in a release. In a joint inaugural meeting held at the Seoul Press Center, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Gangwon Province agreed to appoint Shin as president of the organizing committee for the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games. “Based on the Olympic spiri

Sept. 3, 2020

Seoul stocks extend winning streak to 3rd day on chip rally, vaccine hopes

South Korean shares extended gains to a third session Thursday, as major chipmakers rallied amid hopes for a recovery. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 31.53 points, or 1.33 percent, to close at 2,395.9. Trading volume was high at about 966 million shares worth some 17.2 trillion won ($14.5 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 456 to 367. Foreigners bought a net 194 billion won, ending a five-day selling streak. Reta

Sept. 3, 2020

COVID-19 to boost warehouse investment in Korea: CBRE

The novel coronavirus has accelerated demand for investment in South Korea’s grade-A logistics assets, beyond demand for prime offices and other safe assets, top officials from CBRE Korea said Thursday. Logistics centers, including fulfillment centers and cold storage warehouses, have been more resilient in Korea than any other commercial real estate in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in the first half of 2020, Claire Choi, head of research at CBRE Korea, said in a teleconference with

Sept. 3, 2020

Citibank Korea serves local community to counter the COVID-19 outbreak

Citibank Korea said Thursday it has conducted diverse social contribution programs to help the community cushion the impact of the prolonged coronavirus outbreak. The bank held a series of job mentoring sessions dubbed “Over the Lan Job Talk” last month, whereby its employees gave lectures on job positions at the company as well as required skills through a video conferencing platform. The programs are designed to encourage young job seekers hit hard by sluggish job market, the ba

Sept. 3, 2020

Seoul stocks open higher on US rally, vaccine hopes

South Korean shares opened sharply higher Thursday, on the back of tech gains spurred by an overnight Wall Street rally. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 22.1 points, or 0.93 percent, to 2,386.47 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The strong start has the KOSPI poised to extend its winning streak for a third session. Investor sentiment was boosted by advances of tech and health care heavyweights in the US stock markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped

Sept. 3, 2020

Asian shares mixed after US rally, positive data

TOKYO (AP) -- Asian shares were mixed Wednesday after another US rally spurred by positive economic data, even while the coronavirus pandemic has regions around the world battling recessions. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.5 percent to finish at 23,247.15. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.8 percent to 6,063.20, although the nation reported its worst drop in GDP ever, with a 7 percent contraction in the April-June quarter. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.5 percent to

Sept. 2, 2020

BTS label Big Hit applies for IPO

Big Hit Entertainment, the company behind K-pop sensation BTS, on Wednesday filed an application for initial public offering, according to its regulatory filing. The company said in the filing that it would offer 7.13 million shares at a price between 105,000 won ($88.50) and 135,000 won. It will carry out the book building procedure to gauge demand on Sept. 14-25 for global investors and Sept. 24-25 for the domestic market. NH Investment & Securities, Korea Investment & Securities,

Sept. 2, 2020

KB Kookmin launches mobile app for tithing

South Korean commercial bank KB Kookmin Bank said Wednesday that it has launched a mobile app to help churchgoers manage the donations they give to their local churches. Amid the emergence of a new strain of the novel coronavirus, the service has been launched to help Protestants donate without physically visiting a church. The digital offering envelope resembles actual envelopes used at local churches. Christians can also send prayers with their donations. Starting with an app for Protes

Sept. 2, 2020

Toss Lab’s collaboration tool raises new investment for global expansion

Toss Lab, an operator of Slack-like team collaboration platform JANDI, said Wednesday that it has newly raised 14 billion won ($11.8 million) from a group of investors. The investors include Softbank Ventures, SV Investment, Atinum Investment, Must Investment and Spark Labs. Along with the new investment, the company also named big-name figures in the startup and investment sectors as outside directors, including Shin Hyun-sung, founder of ecommerce firm TMON, Lee Joon-pyo, chief of inves

Sept. 2, 2020

S. Korean fintech firm partners with Singaporean lender

Tenspace, a Seoul-based credit scoring services firm, said Wednesday that it has recently joined forces with Singaporean lender Money World to run a joint venture named Aster World, which offers microloans in Southeast Asia. Although demand for credit loans has increased in the region, the infrastructure for credit scoring is not mature enough. The new joint venture will offer lending services based on alternative credit rating measures to make up for the outdated credit rating system in th

Sept. 2, 2020

Seoul stocks up for 2nd day on retail buying

South Korean stocks extended their winning streak to a second consecutive session Wednesday as retail investors scooped up stocks amid a letup in spiking virus cases. The Korean currency fell against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 14.82 points, or 0.63 percent, to finish at 2,364.37. Trading volume was heavy at 1.4 billion shares worth 15.5 trillion won ($13.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 590 to 245. "South

Sept. 2, 2020

PEI to hold Infrastructure Investor Seoul Summit virtually

Financial intelligence firm PEI is poised to host this year‘s Infrastructure Investor Seoul Summit virtually on Sept. 8, the company said Wednesday. The event comes as the London-based company looks to provide a virtual place for the global infrastructure investing community to connect with South Korean institutional investors looking for chances to allocate their capital to alternative assets across the world. The event will mark the third of its kind in Seoul. Due to travel restrictio

Sept. 2, 2020

Kakao Games IPO pre-orders set new record

Kakao Games, the gaming arm of local mobile messenger giant Kakao, set a record in South Korea on Wednesday by drawing the greatest value of preorder deposits for public subscription of its initial public offering. Retail investors had submitted some 58.55 trillion won ($49.34 billion) in deposits during the two-day preorder session for stocks of Kakao Games, nearly double the record of 30.99 trillion won set by SK Biopharmaceuticals in June. The amount of deposits surged more rapidly as time

Sept. 2, 2020

Stocks rise to attractive destination as dovish Fed continues: Barings

Top officials of US investment firm Barings said Wednesday that stocks appear to be an attractive destination for investors, propelled by the US central bank’s dovish stance to support monetary expansions coupled with signs of recovery in the economy. Foreign investors can take advantage of a currency hedging premium thanks to the dovish US Federal Reserve and following weaker US dollar when investing in emerging market stocks including ones in Korea, the officials noted. During a teleco

Sept. 2, 2020

Credit loans soar in August amid ultra-low interest rates, stricter mortgage rules

South Korea’s major banks saw their credit loan balance rise by more than 4 trillion won ($3.37 billion) on-month in August, data showed Wednesday, due to persisting ultra-low interest rates, as well as side effects from new loan regulations.  Outstanding personal loans extended to individuals by the nation’s five major lenders -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, Hana and NH NongHyup -- stood at nearly 124.27 trillion won last month, up 4.76 trillion won from a month earlier. This

Sept. 2, 2020