Shinhan Financial Group announced on May 18 that it has launched a joint research and development project with Element AI, a Canadian artificial intelligence (AI) software solution company, to advance the AI-based investment advisory platform “NEO” developed by Shinhan AI.Shinhan AI was founded in 2
Huawei held Huawei Global Analyst Summit 2020 in Shenzhen, China on May 18 and released an official statement on additional U.S. sanctions. On May 15, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that third-country companies using U.S. technologies and components as well as those having manufacturing f
SKC has recently decided to stop its ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) sheet business.“We made the decision for more business efficiency with photovoltaic market conditions deteriorating and competition intensifying due to China,” the company explained. The pre-tax net losses of SKC Eco-Solutions’ EVA bu
Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong visited the company’s semiconductor manufacturing plant in Xi’an, China on May 18. There, he expressed concerns over the company’s position in the industry with Chinese semiconductor companies posing a threat to it based on their huge domestic market an
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at dongyang.kim@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Despite the Covid-19 outbreak, Hanwha Corp. displayed sound earnings visibility backed by increased earnings contributions from stable defense-related businesses, including the in-house defense
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at william.ku@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Driven by Truxima and Herzuma launches in the US and Remsima SC launches in Europe, Celltrion Healthcare registered a 1Q20 earnings surprise. Backed by operating leverage effects, the firm appear
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at sw.kang@nhqv.com. -- Ed. We believe that most of the temporary layoffs in the US are concentrated in the leisure, wholesale, and retail industries. A hotel room occupancy rate and retail business survey conducted in April i
GC Pharma announced on May 18 that it would provide GC5131A, the world's first plasma therapy for COVID-19 that the company is developing, to Korean patients free of charge.GC Pharma is the first Korean pharmaceutical company to come up with a plan to supply a COVID-19 treatment to patients for
Samsung Electronics announced on May 18 that it will support five startups that were created by Samsung employees as part of the company’s C-Lab Inside in-house incubation program.Started in December 2012, C-Lab Inside nurtures employees’ innovative ideas while instilling a corporate culture in whic
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at minjae.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed. As average coal input prices exceeded our estimate due to lower utilization rates at coal power plants, KEPCO’s 1Q20 results fell short of our estimates. Believing that the effects of falling coa
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at mj27@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Cosmax delivered an earnings surprise for 1Q20, with OP exceeding consensus by 49% on stronger domestic margins. Moving forward, earnings and EV should rise, backed by the firm’s manufacturing competi
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at mj27@nhqv.com. -- Ed. CJCJ posted an earnings surprise for 1Q20, with OP exceeding consensus by 28%. In addition to near-term earnings expansion in response to stronger food product sales, we expect the firm’s competitiven
KOSPI’s price-to-book ratio (PBR) has remained below 1 since June 2018. Experts ascribe this to structural reasons, such as government regulations and a decline in industrial competitiveness, rather than stock market undervaluation.According to financial data provider FnGuide, KOSPI’s 12-month leadi
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are on alert as the U.S. government announced on May 15 (local time) that it will limit the supply of semiconductors made with U.S. technology to Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications equipment company.The U.S. Department of Commerce said in a statement that it is ame
Korea’s best "hanok" (traditional Korean house) hotel Gyeongwonjae Ambassador Incheon celebrated its 5th anniversary in May. Opened In May 2015, Gyeongwonjae Ambassador Incheon is the first large hanok hotel set up at the center of a city. It has now established itself as a “small Korea in Korea” th
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) finalized on May 17 its fifth basic plan pertaining to the Creation and Development of Financial Hubs Act, which will cover the period of 2020 to 2022.South Korea’s plan to turn into a Northeast Asian financial hub was initiated in December 2003 by the governm
Bloomberg Intelligence said on May 17 that South Korea’s sovereign debt-to-GDP ratio would rise to 46 percent next year if the South Korean economy posted a negative growth of 1.4 percent this year due to a continuous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research arm of Bloomberg explained that a ra
The South Korean government is working on incentive measures for reshoring companies. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is expected to include the measures in the government’s global value chain improvement strategy scheduled to be announced next month.The measures are expected to include m
A global platform aimed at strengthening the United Nations' response to health security issues has been launched at the proposal of South Korea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on May 14.The South Korean government held a video conference to launch the “UN Group of Friends of Solidarity fo
Developing an infection control industry was one of the topics discussed by ministers at the 3rd Meeting of the Central Economic Response Headquarters held on May 14.Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki, who presided over the ministerial meeting, told officials to make plans according to the three stag