The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on Sept. 8 the enforcement decree of the Telecommunications Business Act, which was recently revised to prevent global content providers (CPs) such as Netflix from getting a free ride on the networks of domestic telecom companies.The enforcement decree, howe
Online platforms are becoming larger and larger and their clashes with existing businesses are intensifying. Under the circumstances, the government has yet to define those platforms as monopolistic and predominant market participants or an innovative form of industry based on the development of inf
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. He can be reached at drlee@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Big Hit Entertainment submits stock registration reportOn Sept 2, Big Hit Entertainment submitted its stock registration report, with new shares corresponding to 20.0% of total no. of shares issued. The IPO size (
Foreign investors posted a net selling of 1,630.6 billion won in KOSPI on Aug. 31. The record-high figure is because they withdrew their investment from a number of large-cap stocks. The previous high, 1,312.5 billion won, was recorded on March 9 with COVID-19 spreading rapidly.Specifically, on Aug.
Korea Exchange announced on Aug. 30 that the top 10 market cap stocks in KOSPI accounted for 44.78 percent and 43.77 percent of the aggregate value of the stock market this month and this year, respectively. For reference, the ratio was 33.51 percent in August last year.This lopsidedness is because
Kakao, the most popular smartphone messenger app among Koreans, and Naver, the biggest portal service in Korea, will tap into the Korean over the top (OTT) market. The two major IT platforms are aiming to bring a big change to the Korean OTT market, which is dominated by foreign platform Netflix, by
The stock price of SK Hynix fell 4.27 percent to close at 71,800 won per share on Aug. 20. Individual investors posted a net buy of 84.9 billion won whereas foreign and institutional investors net-sold 58 billion won and 31.5 billion won of SK Hynix shares, respectively. The price fell 13.29 percent
Google, which accounts for 90 percent of the South Korean app market together with Apple, is reportedly moving to receive 30 percent of all app-related payments as fees. Under the circumstances, content providers’ burden is predicted to explode.Google has reportedly decided to expand the fees from g
Collaboration between the financial and information and communications technology (ICT) sectors is in rapid progress to the point of some preparations for joint venture establishment beyond strategic cooperation based on MOUs. This is because digital transformation is becoming increasingly essential
Amid a liquidity rally in the Korean stock market, competition is intensifying among Korea’s top business groups for higher spots in market capitalization rankings.The total market capitalization of 13 listed LG Group affiliates was estimated at 122.68 trillion won at the close of Aug. 13, according
The authors are analysts of Shinhan Investment Corp. They can be reached at jwsung79@shinhan.com and hanny.lee@shinhan.com, respectively. -- Ed. Initiate coverage with BUY for a target price of KRW42,000We initiate our coverage of SM Entertainment with a BUY rating and a target price of KRW42,000. O
The authors are analysts of Shinhan Investment Corp. They can be reached at jwsung79@shinhan.com and hanny.lee@shinhan.com, respectively. -- Ed. Initiate coverage with OVERWEIGHT rating; JYP and YG Entertainment in favorWe initiate coverage of the entertainment sector with an OVERWEIGHT rating. Afte
The Federation of Korean Industries announced on Aug. 10 that Samsung Electronics is the only South Korean company among the world’s top 100 information and communications technology (ICT) companies in terms of market capitalization.The list includes 57 U.S. companies such as Apple, Netflix and Tesl
The market cap of LG Chem reached 50,826.4 billion won on Aug. 10. It is currently the fifth-largest South Korean company in terms of market capitalization. That day, the stock price of the company fell 3.49 percent to 720,000 won per share after having risen for over a week.The rally started on Jul
In the rebounding stock market over the past three months, the average earning rate of active public offering stock funds was not as high as that of passive ones. In particular, yields of active funds also significantly varied, depending on how they are operated in a recent market where differentiat
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at jy.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Weighed upon by tepid sales at its stores located in special districts, BGF Retail’s 2Q20 results missed consensus. However, despite unfavorable business conditions in 3Q20, SSSG improvement at CVSs
Korean companies have significantly narrowed their sales gaps with the global No. 1 players in their business fields over the past five years, a survey has found.CEO Score, a corporate evaluation website, has recently compared sales of Korea's No. 1 companies against global No. 1 companies in 19
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. He can be reached at drlee@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Merger between Line and Z Holdings approvedNaver announced that, as of August 4, the merger between Line (3938 JP) and Z Holdings (4689 JP) passed anti-monopoly reviews in relevant countries. Naver J.Hub (Naver’s
42Maru, an AI startup specializing in question answering (QA) platform, announced on Aug. 5 that it has attracted 2 billion won investment from Korea Development Bank (KDB).The company will sell 2 billion won worth of convertible bond to KDB. These bonds can be converted into shares with the convers
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at junsup@nhqv.com. -- Ed. We positively view Mirae’s efforts to secure new growth drivers via its partnership with NAVER Financial and its entering into a note-issuing business. But, uncertainties regarding Mirae’s invested a