The Korea Exchange is planning to actively help unicorns go public in order to prevent them from opting for foreign stock markets instead of the South Korean market.Korea Exchange Chairman Sohn Byung-doo met with the CEOs of securities firms on April 29. “After Coupang, an increasing number of South
South Korean platform service providers are entering Southeast Asian markets one after another. Naver and Kakao are at the head and Coupang and Baemin are following suit.Kakao Entertainment is about to launch its webtoon service in Thailand. The company established Kakao Entertainment Thailand last
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at hzl.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed. NBT is a reward ad platform operator. It combines the earnings stability of Cashslide (B2C) and high growth of Adison Offerwall (B2B). Amid offerwall market growth, NBT stands to benefit significan
Hyundai Motor Group is installing E-pit rapid charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) at expressway service stations. But complaints are increasing among Tesla users. Although E-pit is similar to Tesla's fast-charging facility "Super Charger," owners of Tesla models such as the Model S and
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. NAVER’s platform competitiveness is coming under the limelight across a wide range of arenas, encompassing ad, commerce, fintech, and content. Moving ahead, we expect the firm to maintain its unr
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Major opportunities such as the rise of the metaverse, the listing of Coupang, and the enduring popularity of webtoons are in play around the platforms of NAVER and Kakao. Moving ahead, the influ
The author is an analyst of Shinhan Investment Corp. He can be reached at mj1224@shinhan.com. -- Ed. 1Q21OP likely short of consensus at KRW289.1bn (-0.9% YoY)We now expect NAVER to post sales of KRW1.53tr (+32.8% YoY) and operating profit of KRW289.1bn (-0.9% YoY) for 1Q21. While sales likely excee
The Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) said in its report on April 13 that the Office of the United States Trade Representative complained about the Telecommunications Business Act amendments of South Korea to block the mandatory in-app payment policies of app market operators
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at hzl.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Amid intensifying competition among global OTT players to secure Korean content, related players in Korea are now greater investing in content arenas.1) Telcos: To boost partnerships with global OT
The Financial Supervisory Service announced on April 4 that the 100 South Korean listed companies that recorded the largest sales in 2019 invested 49,473.6 billion won in R&D last year, the R&D investment increased 3.7 percent in 2020, their R&D investment-to-sales ratio remained at 2.2 percent that
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. He can be reached at drlee@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Maintain BUY and target price of KRW440,000 We maintain BUY and our TP of KRW440,000 for Naver. Reflecting solid performance in Commerce/Fintech, we revise up 2021E revenue by 2.1%, but rising labor costs (increas
The Korea Securities Depository announced on April 1 that the number of individual investors in the South Korean stock market is approximately 9.14 million and their total shareholding was about 662 trillion won at the end of last year.The shareholding increased by 243 trillion won in 2020, when the
Neuron Mobility, a rental e-scooter company and micromobility technology developer, announced on April 1 that it will introduce a new e-scooter in collaboration with Studio Dummy, a design startup, from April 1 to April 25 in Seongsu-dong, Seoul.The two companies will introduce an e-scooter equipped
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at jy.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed. We expect Shinsegae International’s 1Q21 results to beat consensus, led by strong earnings at its overseas fashion division. Moving ahead, the firm should attract attention for possessing the highes
The author is an analyst of Shinhan Investment Corp. He can be reached at sejonghong@shinhan.com. -- Ed. 1Q21 consolidated OP estimated at KRW14.6bn (+25.2% YoY)We now expect Studio Dragon to post consolidated operating profit of KRW14.6bn (+25.2% YoY) on sales of KRW128.8bn (+7.1% YoY) for 1Q21. Ou
Lotte and Shinsegae are expected to try to take over eBay Korea, the third-largest e-commerce company in South Korea. Both Lotte and Shinsegae can become the largest online shopping mall in South Korea once it acquires eBay Korea.eBay Korea, which is running Gmarket and Auction, has remained in the
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. He can be reached at drlee@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Mid-/long-term commerce strategy announced— Naver announced the details of its strategy for its solution business (store, merchant, marketing, logistics) and global business along with some ambitious targets, such
This year’s wage talks in Samsung Electronics, which started in January, are showing little progress.The employers and employees had seven rounds of negotiations for about 10 weeks. The former are insisting on a pay increase of 3 percent or so whereas the latter are demanding 6.36 percent.In Samsung
The author is an analyst of Shinhan Investment Corp. He can be reached at mj1224@shinhan.com. -- Ed. Five strategies for growth of commerce businessNAVER unveiled the strategic direction for its commerce business at the Analyst Day event held on March 17. The five growth strategies are: 1) improveme
The author is an analyst of Shinhan Investment Corp. She can be reached at hpark@shinhan.com. -- Ed. NAVER and Shinsegae Group join hands via share swap dealOn March 16, NAVER (035420 KS) and Shinsegae Group conducted share swaps through off-hours block trading. NAVER exchanged its 259,404 treasury