The Bank of Korea announced on Dec. 29 that South Korea’s import value index was 159.29 last month, up 42.8 percent from a year ago and the highest since records began in January 1988. The index rose for 12 months in a row after having risen 39 percent year on year in October. The reference point an
The authors are analysts of Shinhan Investment Corp. They can be reached at mingu.jeong@shinhan.com and jhwon@shinhan.com, respectively. -- Ed. Initiate coverage with BUY for a target price of KRW46,200We initiate our coverage of Ray with a BUY rating for a target price of KRW46,200, based on 2022F
The volume of short-selling transactions in the Korean stock market exceeded 1 trillion won on Nov. 30, the largest since May 3, the day short-selling was resumed.Short selling transactions in the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets totaled 1,095.3 billion won on Dec. 1, the Korea Exchange said. The KOSPI mark
The government’s Hydrogen Economy Committee, chaired by the prime minister, announced its first basic plan for a transition to the hydrogen economy on Nov. 26, charting a new direction for the domestic hydrogen industry. Now, Korean companies are expected to start investing in hydrogen in earnest. T
The Korea Enterprises Federation recently conducted a survey at 220 foreign-invested enterprises and about half of them said that South Korea’s investment environment and regulations have not improved at all under the current administration.“More than 29 percent of the respondents with at least 300
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. He can be reached at cm.lee@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Maintain BUY, raise target price 16% to KRW580,000 We maintain BUY and raise our TP by 16% from KRW500,000 to KRW580,000 on Ecopro BM. Our DCF-derived TP is based on 6.93% WACC (8.47% COE; 3.17% after-tax COD; 1.
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. He can be reached at yc.baek@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Maintain BUY, target price of KRW420,000 We maintain BUY and our TP of KRW420,000 for SK innovation. Earnings improved QoQ in 3Q21 on robust refining margins and higher lube base oil profitability. We believe th
SK Innovation announced on Oct. 29 that the order backlog of its electric vehicle battery business, which was recently spun off into SK On, amounts to 220 trillion won.The company disclosed the figure during a third-quarter earnings conference call. It posted an operating profit of 618.5 billion won
Multiple South Korean startups developing autonomous driving technologies attracted an investment of tens of billions of won each this year. The examples include 42dot and DEEPX.In August, Shinhan Bank, Lotte Rental and STIC Ventures invested 81 billion won in 42dot, which is working on Level 4 auto
The author is an analyst of Shinhan Investment Corp. She can be reached at heeyeon.lim@shinhan.com. – Ed. 3Q21 NP to come in atKRW165.4bn (+57.0% YoY)Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance is expected to have delivered an earnings surprise for 3Q21, with operating profit of KRW228.7bn (+53.6% YoY) and net p
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at ryan.ra@nhqv.com. – Ed. Export growth in September should quell August-related concerns. In 3Q21, exports to EMs continued improving, and exports to DMs such as the US and EU entered a normalization track. We present implan
Statistics Korea announced on Sept. 30 that the overall industrial production index of South Korea was 111.8 in August, down 0.2 percent from the previous month. The index, which fell 0.6 percent in July, decreased for the second consecutive month.In August, the manufacturing inventory and shipments
The Bank of Korea announced on Sept. 9 that South Korea’s household debt-to-GDP ratio was 105 percent in the first quarter of this year, the sixth-highest among the 43 countries the Bank for International Settlements covered in the fourth quarter of 2020.“The Q1 household debt ratio is 132.7 percent
SK Group unveiled its hydrogen business plan at the inaugural meeting on Sept. 8 of the Korea H2 Business Summit, a consultative body launched by leading Korean conglomerates promoting hydrogen-related private businesses.SK Group plans to invest 18.5 trillion won to build a hydrogen value chain, the
The Bank of Korea announced on Aug. 31 that South Korean institutional investors’ foreign currency securities investment balance increased US$18.5 billion to an all-time high of US$381.1 billion in the second quarter of this year.According to the central bank, the increase is because the prices of t
A global alliance of hydrogen industry associations is scheduled to be organized next year. The alliance of private-sector associations representing countries’ hydrogen energy industries is to create global laws and standards related to the industry and propose those to governments.H2KOREA will hold
China’s Xiaomi topped the global 5G Android smartphone market in the second quarter of 2021. It now aims to overtake Samsung Electronics in the global smartphone market within three years.Xiaomi’s chairman Lei Jun said in a new product unpack event held online on Aug. 10 that he was overjoyed about
Samsung Electronics released the world's first 5G smartphone Galaxy S10 in the first quarter of 2019. But it has been relegated to fifth place in the global 5G smartphone market.Xiaomi's shipments of 5G smartphones in the second quarter touched 24.3 million units, up 452 percent from the sam
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. He can be reached at moonjoon.chang@kbfg.com. -- Ed. 2Q21 review: Results in line despite one-off expenses — GS E&C announced preliminary 2Q21 revenue of KRW2.2tn (-12.4% YoY, +11.0% QoQ), OP of KRW125.3bn (-24.1% YoY, -29.1% QoQ), and NP (attributable to c
Hanwha Group sold some of its stake in Nikola, a U.S. hydrogen and electric vehicle maker which had been embroiled in a fraud controversy.The group announced on July 1 that it has sold some of its stake in Nikola held by Green Nikola Holdings, a company jointly established by Hanwha General Chemical