Korean brokerages saw their foreign operations turn to net losses in the fiscal first half of 2010 from a year earlier due to increased sales and maintenance costs, the financial regulator said Tuesday.The 47 foreign units of 19 local securities companies posted a combined net loss of $16.6 million in the April-September period, compared with a profit of $23.1 million a year earlier, according to

Feb. 1, 2011

Kookmin Bank, Korea’s largest lender, and local rivals posted a 41 percent jump in combined profit last quarter as widening lending margins increased interest income and provisions for bad loans fell.The 18 lenders net income climbed to 2.1 trillion won ($1.9 billion) for the three months ended Dec. 31, from 1.5 trillion won a year earlier, the Financial Supervisory Service said Tuesday in an e-ma

Feb. 1, 2011

Korean businesses and investors in Egypt are facing inevitable damage to their operations due to increasingly violent protests there, with many of them forced to stay indoors or have their family members leave the country in a hurry, a local trade body said Monday.Many companies, including Samsung, LG and Hyundai Motor, have decided to immediately bring home the families of their workers in the Ar

Industry Jan. 31, 2011

Korea’s smallest mobile carrier, LG Uplus Corp. said Monday that it swung into the red in the fourth quarter of 2010 from one year ago, hurt by depreciation costs. Net loss stood at 49.2 billion won ($44.1 million) in the October-December period, compared with a 78.4 billion won net income a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. The mobile operator said it had lost money in the th

Industry Jan. 31, 2011

Individually tailored equity portfolios may double in Korea this year as investors shift cash from index-tracking mutual funds, advisory firm Korea Creative Investment said. Brokerages sold $1.2 billion of products to individual investors based on Korea Creative’s stock picks within a month of the company starting business Dec. 13, Seo Jae-hyeong, chief executive officer of the Seoul-based firm, s

Jan. 31, 2011

Korea Electric Power Corp., the country’s biggest electricity producer, posted a narrower fourth-quarter loss after the government allowed power prices to increase for the first time in more than a year and a stronger won cut the cost of its foreign-currency loans.The loss shrank to 18.2 billion won ($16.2 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31 from a deficit of 336.4 billion won a year earlie

Industry Jan. 31, 2011

Korea’s business sentiment for February turned negative for the first time in 17 months amid rising prices of imported raw materials and signs of rate hikes, a poll showed Thursday.The Business Survey Index (BSI) for February came in at 98.0, compared with 101.4 in January, according to the Federation of Korean Industries, the largest industry lobby in Korea.The BSI reading has stayed above 100 si

Jan. 27, 2011

The state-run Korea Development Bank, main creditor of Korea Express, said Thursday that it will pick two arrangers next month to find a new owner for the country’s top logistics company.Creditors are seeking to sell over 35 percent of their total 47.9 percent stake in Korea Express, held by Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc., the airline unit of liquidity-squeezed Kumh

Jan. 27, 2011

Korean stocks closed 0.22 percent higher on Thursday as investor sentiment was lifted by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s vow to keep its bond-buying program to support an economic recovery, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 4.55 points to 2,115.01, the fourth straight session of gains.Trading volume was moderate at 347.

Jan. 27, 2011

The portion of Korea’s direct investment in China shrank last year amid intensifying competition from other global companies in the world’s second-largest and fastest-growing economy, a report said Thursday.In the first nine months of 2010, the proportion of foreign direct investment made by Korean firms in China dropped to 2 percent from 2.7 percent in 2009, according to the report from the Korea

Jan. 27, 2011