Nonghyup Bank sells $600m in social bonds

Major South Korean lender Nonghyup Bank said Thursday it has issued $600 million in social bonds to overseas investors to help support the vulnerable. The bank said it has floated $300 million worth of three-year bonds with an annual interest rate of 0.926 percent, with the remaining $300 million maturing in five years and carrying an interest of 1.325 percent. Nonghyup Bank said the lender has been able to reduce the spread by 0.25-0.3 percentage point as it has attracted bids worth $2.2 bill

July 22, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on earnings hope

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday as hopes for robust corporate earnings in the second quarter boosted investor sentiment. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 26.74 points, or 0.83 percent, to 3,242.65 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks rebounded after the Kospi retreated 2.14 percent in the past four sessions amid the fourth wave of the new coronavirus in the country. Tech, financial and auto gains led the KOSPI's hike, while bio slumped. Market

July 22, 2021

Seoul stocks down for 4th day on coronavirus woes

South Korean stocks retreated for a fourth consecutive session Wednesday, as the resurgence of the new coronavirus weakened investor sentiment for risk. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slumped 16.79 points, or 0.52 percent, to close at 3,215.91 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 973 million shares worth some 14.7 trillion won ($12.7 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 283 to 562. Foreigners sold a net 511 bil

July 21, 2021

GS Retail ramps up pet care footprint with M&As

Convenience store franchise operator GS Retail said Wednesday it inked a deal to acquire a controlling stake in online pet care retailer startup Pet Friends through working with local private equity house IMM Private Equity.  Upon completion of the deal, GS Retail and IMM PE is expected to control a combined 95 percent of shares in Pet Friends, a company dedicated to delivery of pet products, consultation and snack sampling tests through an online channel, from founder and CEO Kim Chang-wo

July 21, 2021

Sales of top 100 unlisted firms more than quadruple over 3 years

Sales of major high-growth unlisted companies in South Korea have risen more than four times over the past three years with online distributors and bio firms posting explosive growth, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. The combined top line of the country's top 100 unlisted companies came to 20.4 trillion won ($17.8 billion) last year, up a whopping 323 percent from three years earlier, according to CEO Score. The companies, chosen from more than 11,500 businesses nationwide, don't belong to

July 21, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on bargain hunting

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday as bargain hunters sought to buy oversold stocks after the benchmark index took a breather for the past three sessions. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 10.67 points, or 0.33 percent, to 3,243.37 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks came to a strong start after the KOSPI retreated nearly 2 percent in the past three sessions amid rising concerns over the fourth wave of the pandemic in the country. Hopes of e

July 21, 2021

Samsung Electronics shares hit year's second-lowest mark

Samsung Electronics, which holds one-fifth of the South Korean stock market’s value, has been suffering continuous price declines in recent weeks, hitting the second lowest mark of the year on Tuesday. The stock price of the world’s largest chipmaker fell as low as 78,400 won ($68.30) earlier on Tuesday, before closing at 79,000 won, the second lowest level this year. Compared to 96,800 won six months ago, the price level is 18 percent lower. On hopes for an economic recovery, ma

July 20, 2021

Kakao’s Ground X picked as preferred bidder for BOK’s digital currency project

South Korea’s central bank on Tuesday named Ground X, a blockchain subsidiary of the nation’s tech giant Kakao Corp., as the preferred bidder for the partner position on its pilot digital currency development program. The Bank of Korea in May uploaded posts on its website seeking businesses interested in a 10-month partnership deal as a technological supplier to develop its central bank digital currency. It plans to close the deal by the end of the month before kicking off the pi

July 20, 2021

KakaoBank looks to spur innovation via W2.55tr IPO

KakaoBank, South Korea’s leading mobile-only bank, said Tuesday that it aims to become the nation’s No. 1 retail bank leading innovation in finance through its market debut on the nation’s main board Kospi next month. “KakaoBank has proved business capacity of a mobile application as it secured 16.15 million users (as of first quarter this year) and turned into the black within 1 1/2 year (after establishing the firm in 2017),” Yun Ho-young, chief executive office

July 20, 2021

Seoul stocks down for 3rd day on virus concerns

South Korean stocks extended their losing streak to a third consecutive session Tuesday, following a US stock plunge that stemmed from concerns that the resurgence in the new coronavirus and its variants may deter economic recovery. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) retreated 11.34 points, or 0.35 percent, to close at 3,232.7 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 963 million shares worth some 15.1 trillion won ($13.1 billi

July 20, 2021

F&F joins TaylorMade buyout as Korean PEF switches partner

South Korean clothing company F&F is set to commit capital of $350.5 million to take part in a private equity firm-led acquisition of California-based golf equipment maker TaylorMade Golf, a filing showed Tuesday. The outfit maker, dedicated to licensed productions for brands such as MLB and Discovery, is taking the place of local rival The Nature Holdings, which on Monday withdrew from its $87.6 million commitment to the deal. According to a disclosure filed with the Financial Superviso

July 20, 2021

Internet lender Kakao Bank to break into new areas: CEO

Kakao Bank, South Korea's largest internet-only bank, will seek to expand into new business areas and become the country's No. 1 financial platform, the company's CEO said Tuesday. "Kakao Bank will strive to emerge as the top financial platform and break into such areas as insurance, fund and asset management," CEO Daniel Yun said at a news conference to mark the lender's planned initial public offering (IPO). To that end, Kakao Bank will continue to seek the digital innovation of it

July 20, 2021

Seoul stocks open steeply lower on US stock plunge

South Korean stocks opened steeply lower Tuesday, tracking a US stock plunge that stemmed from concerns that the resurgence in the new coronavirus and its variants may hamper the ailing global economy. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) slumped 18.44 points, or 0.57 percent, to 3,225.6 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Virus worries continued to pull down the Kospi after the key stock index's 1 percent retreat the previous session. Overnight, the big-three US sto

July 20, 2021

Digital exiles: Bankers in 40s take buyouts amid bleak outlook

While emptying her desk on her last day at the office, Kim Young-sun, 46, recalls the day 18 years ago when she started working at a bank in Seoul. She built her career mostly in retail finance, except for a brief assignment in corporate banking. Management began imposing a heavier workload on bankers in recent years while strictly assessing performance, she said. The stress of that accompanied concerns about the faster-than-expected growth of the fintech industry and platform-based, nontra

July 19, 2021

Insurers enter health care service market via digital platform

South Korea’s leading insurance firms are set to offer customized health care services through digital platforms after a regulatory bar was lifted for offering non-financial services. Amid fast growth of the elderly population, the government‘s plan to revitalize the health care industry coupled with the insurance sector’s needs to discover new revenue source prompt insurers to create digital health management solutions.　 The Financial Services Commission last week allowed

July 19, 2021

Seoul stocks slump 1% amid virus resurgence, mixed US indicators

South Korean stocks retreated 1 percent Monday amid concerns about the resurgence of new coronavirus cases and mixed signals in the US economic indicators. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slumped 32.87 points to close at 3,244.04 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 12.6 trillion won ($11 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 679 to 184. Foreigners sold a net 454 billion won, while re

July 19, 2021

From BTS to Blackpink, card issuers collaborate with K-pop stars to lure MZ generation

South Korean credit card issuers are rolling out credit cards themed after K-pop stars or animation characters, specifically targeting millennials and Generation Z as they emerge as the new main sources of revenue. BC Card said Monday that it has partnered up with K-pop girl group Blackpink for a new credit card. It is the first credit card issued in collaboration with K-pop idols, they said. According to the company, the credit card is to come in various designs featuring 10 images of Blackp

July 19, 2021

More teens buy apartments in Seoul

A growing number of South Korean teenagers bought apartments in Seoul with financial support from their parents, data showed Monday.  People in their teens bought a total of 69 new homes for speculative purposes in the January-May period, a tenfold increase from a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport submitted to Rep. Park Sang-hyuk of the ruling Democratic Party. The young homeowners’ parents appeared to have handed cash to their

July 19, 2021

Overseas stock transactions hit new high in H1

South Koreans' transactions of foreign stocks reached a new high in the first half of the year on an overseas investment boom, data showed Monday. Local investors' trading of overseas shares was valued at $207.74 billion in the January-June period, up 63 percent from six months earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). It also represents the largest half-year amount since data tracking began in 2011 and hovers above the $198.32 billion for the entirety of 2020.

July 19, 2021

Kakao Bank set to conduct IPO demand forecasting this week

Kakao Bank, South Korea's largest internet-only bank, said Monday it will carry out a demand forecasting session this week for its planned initial public offering (IPO). Demand forecasting for domestic institutions is slated for Tuesday and Thursday, with that for overseas institutional investors set to take place Monday through Wednesday. Kakao Bank has offered an IPO price range between 33,000 won ($28.9) to 39,000 won per share, while seeking to raise up to 18.5 trillion won via the share s

July 19, 2021