Startup Alliance Korea announced on Feb. 13 that new startup investments totaled 257.9 billion won last month, down 84.28 percent from a year ago and down 66.42 percent from the previous month. The number of new startup investments dropped from 176 to 83 in one year.The ongoing decrease in new start
Samsung Electronics will collaborate with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) to foster robotics engineers.The two sides agreed on Feb. 13 to launch a Samsung Electronics robotics talent training program, a recruitment-linked master’s course. They will select 10 scholarshi
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at yd.yoon@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Partnering up with Dunamu and Lambda256, Hanwha I&S has been actively preparing to launch a blockchain business. By utilizing its extensive network, the firm is expected to work with blockchain sta
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at dongyang.kim@nhqv.com. -- Ed. LG Corp is expected to strengthen its business portfolio, using its net cash holdings of W1.6tn for M&As and CVC establishment. Also, its dividend income should rise, leading to a steady increa
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. She can be reached at leesunhwa@kbfg.com. -- Ed. SM Entertainment to issue new shares, convertible bonds to Kakao ᅳ SM Entertainment recently decided to issue 1.23mn shares worth KRW111.9bn (KRW91,000/ share) to be allotted to Kakao. The payment date is sch
SK bioscience has received an upgrade in its MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International) ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) rating from B to BBB in one year, the company announced on Feb. 3. According to the rating report, SK bioscience was recognized for its human resources development in the
Shinhan Financial Group announced on Jan. 31 that it was included in the 2023 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, becoming the first Korean financial group to be included in the index for five consecutive years.The Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (BGEI) covers companies listed on the U.S. Stock Exchang
The Korea Securities Depository (KSD) announced on Jan. 25 that paid-in capital increase in South Korea totaled 34.0998 trillion won consisting of 1,187 cases last year, down 32.6 percent and down 11.8 percent from a year ago, respectively. In KOSPI, 100 cases (down 20 percent) constituted 20.7113 t
The Financial Services Commission announced on Jan. 24 that it would repeal the mandatory registration applied to foreign investors since 1992 and public disclosures in English would become mandatory next year in the case of every listed corporation with at least 10 trillion won in assets.At present
The Financial Services Commission announced on Jan. 19 that mandatory investment registration certificates applied to foreigners would be repealed and blockchain-based securities token offering (STO) would be permitted.The mandatory certificates were introduced in 1992 so that foreigners register th
The authors are analysts of Shinhan Securities. They can be reached at idh@shinhan.com and jiunmyoung@shinhan.com, respectively. -- Ed. 2023 guidance: Solid market conditions despite order declinesKorea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) announced its guidance for 2023 at an online meeting.
Korean cosmetics companies have started localization work in Europe and North America, the home of cosmetics. So far, Korean cosmetics companies have sought to penetrate the Asian cosmetics market. But now, they are beginning to target the global cosmetics market. Analysts say Korean cosmetics compa
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. He can be reached at cygun101@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Financial Supervisory Service’s reply to Samsung Life’s question on how to book policyholders’ equity adjustment under IFRS17 — Out of valuation gains on available-for-sale securities and revaluation gains on r
LG Chem is expected to successfully take over Aveo Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. anti-cancer drug development company, next year and enter the U.S. market.LG Chem’s acquisition of Aveo is expected to close within the first quarter of 2023. The company announced on Oct. 18 that it would acquire a 100 perce
The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced on Dec. 26 that 1,612 domestic listed companies’ sales for the first three quarters of this year increased 19 percent year on year but their sales growth rate fell 2.3 percentage points in the third quarter of this year.“Their total assets and lia
Financial authorities are introducing a mandatory offer system as a way to protect minority shareholders from mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the form of a share sale and purchase.M&As in this form have not offered ordinary shareholders an opportunity to sell their shares. In the future, when a c
The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently analyzed 674 non-large listed manufacturers and announced on Dec. 19 that their operating profit increased 3.9 percent from September last year to the same month of this year.“In that period, their interest cost jumped 20.3 percent and total liabil
Samsung Electronics executed the largest amount of capital expenditures (CAPEX), including facility investment, in 2021, according to the 2022 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard announced by the European Commission on Dec. 15.Samsung Electronics' CAPEX last year increased by 23.7 percent to
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at minwoo.ju@nhqv.com. -- Ed. LGES should enjoy a share price rebound from February~March, once off-seasonality and overhang concerns dissipate and strong EV demand is confirmed in the US.Demand concerns must be resolved with
Kumho Tire announced on Dec. 6 that it has obtained a silver medal from Ecovadis, a global ESG evaluation agency. The tire company has also won an overall B+ rating from the Korea Institute of Corporate Governance and Sustainability (KCGS).Ecovadis is an ESG evaluation platform in France. It is used