British American Tobacco Korea said Monday that it would reposition the price of its Dunhill Finecut Superslim product to 2,500 won ($2.30) from the current 2,700 won. The company said the reduction would take effect on Jan. 17. “The decision to reposition the price reflects current market trends. Superslim segment accounts for about 30 percent of the total tobacco market,” it said.BAT Korea CEO Guy Meldrum said, “We believe the price change will provide wider choice for consumers who are seekin

Jan. 7, 2013

South Korea’s financial authorities will dispatch a delegation to the Middle East this week, aiming at vitalizing mutual investment in banking businesses, stocks and bonds.“The project reflects the idea of diversifying foreign direct investment sources, while the nation has mainly resorted to funds from Europe and the United States,” the delegation said in a statement.The planned cooperation with Muslim countries was initiated by the National Policy Committee of the National Assembly and the Fin

Jan. 7, 2013

The Financial Supervisory Service is fine-tuning details to launch an investigation into the Korean operation of U.S.-based asset management firm AllianceBernstein Ltd., which made public its stock trading four years after the required timing, regulatory officials said Monday. While the financial regulator said it has yet to launch an official investigation, officials said the case has been under close watch. Its probe generally involves a paper-based review as a preliminary step. “At the presen

Jan. 7, 2013

Korea posted the second-largest drop in labor productivity among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development during the third quarter of 2012.According to the OECD, Korea’s labor productivity fell by 0.4 percent in the July-September period from a quarter before, along with the Czech Republic and Portugal, both of which recorded the same figure.While Norway saw its labor productivity, or the rate of output per worker per unit of time, fall heaviest by 1.3 percent, two mo

Jan. 6, 2013

The Financial Supervisory Service is considering reprimanding major life insurance companies for breaches of accounting standards or irregular trading with their parent groups, officials said Sunday.The regulator conducted its investigation into eight major players last year and its possible sanction targets involve conglomerate-based players such as Samsung Life Insurance and Hanwha Life Insurance (then Korea Life).Some of the eight firms, including Kyobo Life, Tong Yang Life, Mirae Asset Life,

Jan. 6, 2013

Major automakers in Korea effectively weathered negative factors involving the eurozone fiscal crisis last year, posting robust sales in the overseas market despite a slump at home.The five companies saw their collective sales climb by 5.65 percent in 2012 to about 8.19 million units, from 7.75 million units a year before.Hyundai Motor reported year-on-year sales growth of 8.6 percent. Its vehicle sales increased by about 350,000 units to around 4.4 million units ― an all-time high ― in 2012, fr

Industry Jan. 2, 2013

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors saw their production of vehicles in the overseas market outstrip their domestic performance for the first time in 2012.In particular, the carmakers’ factories in the BRIC ― Brazil, Russia, India and China ― market significantly fueled their overseas manufacturing capacity, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.KAMA data showed that Hyundai-Kia’s vehicle production in the four fast-growing economies surpassed 2 million units for the first 11 mont

Industry Jan. 1, 2013

SK Group said Tuesday that it posted record exports of more than $60 billion (64.8 trillion won) last year.The group said the ratio of exports to its total earnings reached 74 percent. Main exporters of its business units included SK Innovation, SK Energy, SK Global Chemical, SK Hynix, SK Lubricants and SKC.The figure means SK supplied more than 10 percent of the nation’s total exports in 2012, according to estimates by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.In particular, four petrochemical-related

Industry Jan. 1, 2013

Fuel efficient vehicles with a diesel engine are projected to account for the majority of the total sales of 25 import brands this year.Diesel-powered import models are posting 50.8 percent, or about 61,000 units of foreign brands’ collective vehicle sales so far this year, while the ratio stood at 35.2 percent in 2011 and 25.4 percent in 2010.According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, the number of imported diesel car registrations continued to surge ― 36,931 units

Industry Dec. 28, 2012