It has been revealed that the dividend payouts of major domestic companies increased by nearly 10 percent last year. Particularly noteworthy is the recent announcement by the government regarding the introduction of the “Corporate Value-Up Program” aimed at addressing the “Korea Discount,” which ref
Following the announcement of the government’s introduction of a program to enhance corporate value, stocks with a low price-to-book ratio (PBR) showed strength. Over the past two weeks, foreign investors’ net purchases on the KOSPI surpassed 5 trillion won. While low PBR stocks surged due to foreig
On Feb. 8, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) unveiled its agenda for the year, intending to elevate the criteria for designating business conglomerates subject to disclosure. Criticism has been directed at the regulations governing the disclosure of business groups as they are unique to South Korea. T
President Yoon Suk-yeol reiterated the importance of adopting a global standard to address the “Korea Discount,” which indicates the undervaluation of the domestic stock market, during his televised speech on Feb. 7. This has sparked increased interest in low price-to-book ratio (PBR) stocks among i
The stock price of Rainbow Robotics surged following reports that Samsung Electronics could expedite the acquisition of the robot specialist company. However, Samsung Electronics has refuted these claims as baseless.According to the Korea Exchange on Feb. 8, Rainbow Robotics saw its stock price jump
Until 10 years ago, there was no semiconductor company in the world that could rival Samsung Electronics. In 2011, it surpassed Intel to become the global leader in the semiconductor market in terms of capitalization. By 2012, it rose to fifth place among global information technology (IT) companies
KT&G has rejected the request of an activist-oriented private equity fund to file a lawsuit seeking damages against its former and current directors.On Feb. 7, KT&G announced that it had decided not to file a lawsuit regarding the request from Flashlight Capital Partners (FCP), a private equity fund
Korea Development Bank (KDB) and Korea Ocean Business Corporation announced on Feb. 7 that negotiations on the sale of Korean container shipping company HMM have been held with a consortium of Harim Group’s Pan Ocean and JKL as a preferred bidder, but their meeting finally ended empty-handed.“During
The author is an analyst for NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at junsup@nhqv.com -- Ed.WFG’s CET1 ratio is now at 11.9%. While we positively view y-y improvement in the figure, we believe that CET1 ratio needs to be actively strengthened in order for WFG to meet market expectations for
The global leading automotive company Toyota, which has been embroiled in a “quality certification fraud” scandal, announced a record-breaking net profit of 4.5 trillion yen, equivalent to 40.2 trillion won or US$30.28 billion, for the fiscal year 2023, spanning from April 2023 to March 2024. The pr
The government has decided to announce measures in February to address the risk of foreign investors’ failure to settle foreign exchange payments as part of the structural improvements in South Korea’s foreign exchange market, which are set to begin in earnest in July.The plan is to manage the risks
Hyundai Motor India, Ltd. (HMIL) is reportedly pushing for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Indian stock market later this year. HMIL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company.According to media outlets in India, HMIL is in early-stage negotiations for an IPO later this year. Hyun
The Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) has announced on Feb. 5 that it achieved a double-digit rate of return last year, with total assets under management increasing by over US$20 billion (26.71 trillion won).The KIC revealed on the same day that the annual rate of return for the year 2023, denomin
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has announced plans to conduct a comprehensive investigation aimed at eradicating the common practice of illegal short selling by global investment banks (IBs).In its business plan announced on Feb. 5, the FSS stated, “We will crack down on market disruptions
Expectations of an increase in the corporate value of domestic listed companies are attracting foreign capital to the South Korean stock market. Particularly, there is a concentrated buying interest in automotive stocks, including Hyundai Motor, and growth stocks in industries such as artificial int
U.S.-based Aptiv, Hyundai Motor Group’s partner in autonomous driving technology development, will stop funding for its joint venture with the Korean automaker Motional. After six years of preparations, the company’s commercialization of unmanned autonomous taxis (robotaxis) has been delayed and its
Kia Corp.’s market capitalization has outstripped Hyundai Motor’s. The automaker’s record-breaking earnings and strong shareholder return policy paid off handsomely, stock market experts say. Some of them believe that there is a remaining upside as the price-to-earnings ratio (PBR) is still below 1x
The author is an analyst for NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at bk@nhqv.com -- Ed.The two terms that defined last year’s stock market were ‘new cold war’ and ‘supply chain reshaping’. In 2024, decoupling between DMs and EMs is to become a new market-defining feature. Today, the US’s bu
According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system on Jan. 31, the largest shareholder of Namyang Dairy Products has changed from Hong Won-sik and three others to Hahn & Co., as disclosed the day before. This announcement comes just over a month after the Supreme Court’s f
The market capitalization gap between South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and Taiwan’s TSMC, leading semiconductor companies, has widened over the past year. While TSMC has benefited from rising expectations in AI, South Korean firms are considered undervalued.Data from the global market capitalizatio