The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at sw.kang@nhqv.com. -- Ed Despite an aggressive monetary policy response, the Libor-OIS spread is still widening, which implies that a liquidity crisis is in play. Upcoming economic indicators should mark the beginning of con

The author is an analyst of Shinhan Investment Corp. She can be reached at mj1224@shinhan.com. -- Ed. Positive on COVID-19-sparked changes in consumption habitsFor the internet sector, we focus more on the positive impact of COVID-19 in terms of changing consumer habits towards “untact” (a portmante

The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jy.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Hansae Co.’s 1Q20 results are likely to fall significantly below consensus due to: 1) the spread of Covid-19 in the US; and 2) deteriorated conditions at the domestic and Chinese fashion businesses.

Financial companies such as main creditor banks are staying alert as the credit ratings of major corporations are falling in the wake of the spread of COVID-19. Examples of those corporations include Doosan Heavy Industries and Korean Air. The South Korean government is going to provide an emergency

South Korean insurers’ reverse margin is estimated to hit an all-time high of more than six trillion won this year with interest rates remaining at close to zero.The Korea Insurance Research Institute announced on March 29 that South Korean life insurers’ reverse margin totaled 3.3 trillion won for

The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at minjae.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed. If the average Dubai crude price remains at US$30/bbl until end-1H21, KEPCO’s OP should recover to W3.7tn in 2020 and W7.4tn in 2021. Since power generation costs have declined following the rece

The authors are analysts of Shinhan Investment Corp. They can be reached at doyeon@shinhan.com and sungjun.na@shinhan.com, respectively. --Ed.Additional downward adjustment of IT demand forecasts for 2020We further revise down our demand growth forecasts for IT products in reflection of the spread o

The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at will.byun@nhqv.com In 2020, we expect favorable TC conditions to be offset by the effects of weak metal prices. But, amid significant stock market volatility, Korea Zinc’s solid fundamentals (end-2019 net cash of W2.1tn and

Korea Exchange announced on March 26 that three KOSPI-listed and 27 KOSDAQ-listed companies received adverse audit opinions this year.According to listing rules, a listed company showing adverse audit opinions for two fiscal years in a row is subject to delisting procedures. In 2018 and 2019, the nu

The Bank of Korea decided on March 26 to supply unlimited liquidity by purchasing repurchase agreements on a weekly basis. In addition, the central bank is considering purchasing corporate bonds on condition of government guarantee. The unprecedented measures are because the economic impact of COVID

Financial data provider FnGuide said that the total cash dividend of 100 listed subsidiaries of the top 10 business groups as of March 24 is 19,425.5 billion won. For reference, the amount hit an all-time high of 20,628.9 billion won in 2018 with the stewardship code introduced and the business grou

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced on March 13 that short selling in the South Korean stock market would be banned until Sept. 15 this year. Nonetheless, short selling by institutional investors is continuing with Korea Exchange making an exception of liquidity suppliers and market ma

The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at soohong.cho@nhqv.com, -- Ed. In light of both shrinking production/consumption due to the impact of Covid-19 and concerns towards EMs stemming from plunging oil prices, we revise down our earnings forecasts and TPs for majo

The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at hwdoh@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Supply-demand conditions in the server memory semiconductor market look solid amid greater demand for telecom and streaming services. Memory prices should continue to climb through 2Q20. That said, a

Foreign investors’ Korean corporate bond balance dropped from 119.1 billion won on Feb. 21 to 67.3 billion won on March 24.Although foreigners’ investment in the South Korean corporate bond market has formed a small portion, such a rapid increase in disinvestment has very few precedents. For example

The author is an analyst of Shinhan Investment Corp. He can be reached at jinmyung.lee93@shinhan.com. -- Ed. Initiate coverage with BUY and target price of KRW210,000We initiate our coverage of Lotte Chemical with BUY rating for a target price of KRW210,000. Shares are currently trading at a PBR of

The author is an analyst of Shinhan Investment Corp. He can be reached at jinmyung.lee93@shinhan.com. -- Ed. Initiate coverage with BUY and target price of KRW120,000We initiate our coverage of SK Innovation with BUY for a target price of KRW120,000, based on sum-of-the-parts valuation including the

The author is an analyst of Shinhan Investment Corp. He can be reached at jinmyung.lee93@shinhan.com. -- Ed. Initiate coverage with BUY and target price of KRW34,000We initiate coverage of Kolon Industries with a BUY rating for a target price of KRW34,000. Our target price is based on sum-of-the-par

The author is an analyst of Shinhan Investment Corp. He can be reached at jinmyung.lee93@shinhan.com. -- Ed. Initiate coverage with BUY for a target price of KRW83,000We initiate coverage of S-Oil at BUY for a target price of KRW83,000, based on 2020F BPS of KRW57,289 and a target PBR of 1.5x (PBR l

The author is an analyst of Shinhan Investment Corp. He can be reached at jinmyung.lee93@shinhan.com. -- Ed. Retain BUY for a revised-down target price of KRW53,000We lower our target price for SKC by 23% to KRW53,000 on downward adjustment of the target multiple in light of weakening investment sen