Korea’s listed companies saw their earnings surge 73 percent on-year in 2010 thanks to a recovery in domestic demand and robust exports, a report showed Sunday.The combined net profit of 573 firms listed on the main bourse came to 55.8 trillion won ($51 billion) last year, up from 32.2 trillion won the previous year, according to the report jointly compiled by the Korea Exchange and the Korea List

April 3, 2011

Korean stocks are forecast to gather further momentum to set a new record high this week as the market brushes off global woes like Japan’s massive quake and Middle East political unrest, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index ended this week 66.97 points, or 3.26 percent, higher to 2,121.01 on Friday from a week earlier, marking the highest closing ever for the local key in

April 3, 2011

Korea’s top financial regulator has said the watchdog will push to make a final decision this month over whether Lone Star Funds has the legal right to be the top shareholder of Korea Exchange Bank.Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Seok-dong said in a meeting with reporters, “We are working to make a final decision on Lone Star’s eligibility in April.” The regulator is expected to deliber

April 3, 2011

The longest vacancy on the Bank of Korea’s monetary board since 1998 raises the risk of policy deadlock as officials struggle to tame inflation while maintaining growth. The seat held by Park Bong-heum, a former budget and planning minister appointed by President Lee Myung-bak’s predecessor, has been empty since April 2010. The lack of a seventh member means deadlocks on interest- rate decisions a

March 31, 2011

Bank Mellat asked Korean regulators to take the company off a list of institutions whose transactions must be approved by the central bank, said Ernst Lee, a spokesman for the Financial Services Commission in Seoul.Korea last year put 102 Iranian organizations including Tehran-based Bank Mellat and 24 individuals on a list banning financial transactions without central bank approval.Yonhap News ea

March 30, 2011

Korea’s financial regulator said Wednesday it will require credit card companies to set aside more loss reserves against credit card loans amid growing concerns over burgeoning household debts.The measures to limit credit card companies’ lending and prop up their financial health came after the sector recorded sharp growth in household loans last year. Mushrooming household debts have been cited a

March 30, 2011

Korea has decided to downsize areas originally included as part of the country’s six free economic zones to reflect changing development requirements, the government said Tuesday.The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said a review panel ruled to exclude 12 areas covering 90.4-square kilometers of land from the FEZs, a move expected to cut back on overall costs and construction time.Seoul first designa

March 29, 2011

Korea will host an annual meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank in 2015, a chance that the government expects would deepen its economic cooperation with American countries, the finance ministry said Tuesday.The decision was unanimously made during the 52nd round of the IDB annual meeting that ended on Monday in Canada, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said in a press release.Founded i

March 29, 2011

Korean commercial and state-controlled banks are seeking to strengthen their investment banking sectors in the belief they will be their new growth engines.Beyond the saturated loan issuance market, most local banks share the view that investment banking is one of many priorities for globalization in the coming years.Among them are KB Kookmin Bank, Woori Bank, Shinhan Bank and Industrial Bank of K

March 29, 2011

Creditors of Korea Express Co. have accepted preliminary bids from three local conglomerates, including steel giant POSCO, to buy Korea‘s largest logistics firm, sources said Monday. Co-sales managers Nomura Securities and the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) accepted letters of intent in early March from POSCO, retail giant Lotte Group and leading food conglomerate CJ Group to buy a 37.6 pe

Industry March 28, 2011