The author is an analyst of Shinhan Investment Corp. He can be reached at gwak81@shinhan.com. – Ed. Korean New DealThe Korean government, on July 14, announced its version of a “New Deal,” a comprehensive national development strategy aimed at lifting the domestic economy out of COVID-19 impact and
The Moon Jae-in administration defined conglomerates, which represent a very large portion of the South Korean economy, as deep-rooted evils and has put pressure on them with a variety of regulations. However, it suddenly came up with ‘Korea New Deal’ projects after COVID-19 drove them to a precipic
Samsung Biologics has entered into a strategic partnership with Kanaph Therapeutics, a Korean biotech startup, to develop KNP-301, a bi-specific Fc fusion protein intended to treat retinal diseases, the company announced on Sept. 24.According to Kanaph Therapeutics, KNP-301 is designed to target aut
Raemian, the apartment brand built by Samsung C&T Engineering & Construction Group, came in first place for the 23rd year in a row in the apartment category of the 2020 National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI) survey carried out by the Korea Productivity Center (KPC).NCSI is a customer satisfacti
The dividend yield of KOSPI fell from 3.17 percent to 1.76 percent from the middle of March to the middle of this month. In most cases, extremely low interest rates lead to more interest in dividend stocks. This year, however, the dividend yield is likely to be less than expected due to the sluggish
GC Pharma is accelerating the development of COVID-19 plasma treatment. In South Korea, the company initiated the second phase of its clinical trial with GC5131 on Sept. 21. The CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance, whose members include GC Pharma, BPL, CSL, Takeda, Octapharma and Biotest, will initiate the thi
The authors are analysts of NH Investment & Securities. They can be reached at mj27@nhqv.com, jack.baek@nhqv.com and kyeongkeun.kang@nhqv.com, respectively. – Ed. 1. Present: Use of recyclable packaging materials on the riseIn the global consumer goods market, the trend of replacing plastic packagin
The authors are analysts of NH Investment & Securities. They can be reached at mj27@nhqv.com, jack.baek@nhqv.com and kyeongkeun.kang@nhqv.com, respectively. – Ed. Recently, domestic F&B firms have stepped up their automation drive. In particular, their new factories have been automated to a degree t
The authors are analysts of NH Investment & Securities. They can be reached at mj27@nhqv.com, jack.baek@nhqv.com and kyeongkeun.kang@nhqv.com, respectively. – Ed. Future: Smart factoriesWe believe that the introduction of smart factories represents the future direction for the domestic F&B industry.
The authors are analysts of NH Investment & Securities. They can be reached at mj27@nhqv.com, jack.baek@nhqv.com and kyeongkeun.kang@nhqv.com, respectively. – Ed. Global functional food market to expand at five-year CAGR of 7~9%Consumer needs are diversifying to include demand for focusing on specif
LG Chem held a board meeting on Sept. 17 and decided to split off its battery business unit. The company is planning to hold an extraordinary shareholder meeting on Oct. 30 to that end and the new company, named LG Energy Solutions for now, is likely to be launched on Dec. 1.LG Energy Solutions will
KT announced on Sept. 17 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Stage Five, Nuwa Robotics, and Ashoka Korea to promote the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered companion robot business.Under this agreement, the four companies will develop and commercialize next-generation AI com
Techniques and prototypes for quick COVID-19 testing are coming out one after another so that the testing can be carried out anytime and anywhere.At present, RT-PCR is generally used for the purpose. Although this technique is highly accurate, it takes at least six hours as a specimen needs to be se
SK Engineering & Construction (E&C) announced on Sept. 16 that it has opened "Home Internet of Health Things LAB" in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, in cooperation with InBody, the world's No. 1 company in body composition analysis.The new lab showcases a future-oriented residential environment. The lab intr
Samsung Group allegedly won over media outlets in promoting the merger between Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T in 2015 with threats to stop giving ads if they carried negative stories about it.According to recent media reports, Samsung Group placed 3.6 billion won worth of ads on media outlets ahea
The authors are analysts of NH Investment & Securities. They can be reached at kyuha.lee@nhqv.com, hwdoh@nhqv.com and j.ko@nhqv.com, respectively. – Ed. Expectations towards domestic foundry players and related back-end/equipment firms have been rising as of late, boosted by SEC’s announcement that
SK Telecom has reportedly supplied quantum key distribution (QKD) equipment to a US telecom operator. This constitutes the first sale of quantum-based security technology to a large global telecommunication company. Although SK Telecom's QKD technology was previously applied to Deutsche Telekom&
Recently, competition is heating up among domestic shipbuilders to develop eco-friendly and fuel-saving smart vessels.The market for autonomous ships and related equipment and materials is expected to grow 12.8 percent annually to reach US$155 billion in 2025, said Acute Market Sports, a shipbuildin
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at william.ku@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Focus on increased value of CD47 antibodiesOn Sep 4 (US time), China Biotech I-MAB (Nasdaq market cap of around W2tn) sealed a US$2bn licensing out deal (advance payment of US$200mn) granting the
LG Uplus announced on Sept. 8 that it has certified an integrated universal integrated circuit card (iUICC), a communication solution where the subscriber identification module (SIM) functionality is integrated within a system-on-chip. The new communication module integrates a SIM card, which stores