Nongshim Baeksansoo received the Grand Gold Prize, the highest possible award, from the world-renowned Belgian Monde Selection in recognition of its quality and excellence.Monde Selection is a consumer goods quality evaluation institute founded in Belgium in 1961. It verifies the quality of products
The author is an analyst of Shinhan Securities. He can be reached at jk.ahn@shinhan.com -- Ed.Continuing tightening cycle and rising burden of short-term yield levels The Bank of Korea (BOK) is likely to maintain its tightening stance, given that March consumer prices are up 4% YoY at a lower rate b
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at junsup@nhqv.com -- Ed.While internal and external environments may be unfavorable, WFG shares are trading at a historic low. We note that: 1) the firm’s DY is above 10%; and 2) share buyback is expected.Conditions may be di
The author is an analyst of Shinhan Securities. He can be reached at jk.ahn@shinhan.com -- Ed.2023 tax revenue shortfalls raising expectations for an extra budget in 2HKorea’s tax revenue for the year to February came in lower by more than KRW15tr on a YoY basis, due to weaker contribution from inco
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at junsup@nhqv.com -- Ed.While the current interest rate, exchange rate, and regulation environment appears unfavorable, HFG’s share price is excessively undervalued.External environment uncertain, but share price excessively
The IMF said in its report on April 11 that South Korea, Sweden, Belgium, and France are currently the most vulnerable in terms of household debt.According to the organization, South Korean households’ debt-to-income ratio amounted to 13.4 percent in the second quarter of 2022, second only to Austra
The author is an analysts of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at pk.park@nhqv.com -- Ed.At Yuhan, 1Q23 non-consolidated and consolidated OP likely came in at respective W14.6bn (beating consensus) and W13.3bn (missing consensus). We anticipate consolidated earnings improvement after com
The author is an analyst of Shinhan Securities. She can be reached at hpark@shinhan.com -- Ed.1Q23 results to disappoint due to weak duty-free earningsWe now expect LG H&H to post consolidated operating profit of KRW156.1bn (-11% YoY) on sales of KRW1.61tr (-2% YoY) for 1Q23, missing market consensu
The author is an analyst of Shinhan Securities. He can be reached at keonhyeong.ha@shinhan.com -- Ed.Causes of recurring liquidity crises since the COVID-19 outbreakPolicy responses to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) have helped to calm market fears. The SVB crisis, which came close to tri
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at junsup@nhqv.com -- Ed.SFG is facing the double whammy of a shrinking market and weak 1Q23E earnings. We believe that it is time to expand shareholder return via a share buyback/retirement program.Lower TP, but maintain as t
Haier, a Chinese home electronics giant, took first place in terms of sales in the global home appliance market in 2022. This is the result of making a series of M&A deals with GE based in the United States, Fisher & Paykel based in New Zealand and Candy, based in Italy. By brands rather than sales
SsangYong E&C announced on March 29 that it has won an order for the construction of Park Views Residences in the Kifaf region of Dubai.This construction is a follow-up project to the 44-story, two-building One Residence. SsangYong E&C won the order for One Residence in 2019 and completed it in June
Deficits are simultaneously increasing in the South Korean economy. On March 20, it was announced that the overall average household account balance decreased 28,000 won (US$21.41) in the fourth quarter of 2022 and 81,000 won (US$61.93) in the preceding quarter.In January this year, South Korea’s cu
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at minjae.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed.With natural gas prices stabilizing, the city gas price hike burden is projected to ease.EU energy market for second week of MarchOver Mar 5~11, the EU’s power generation shrank 1.9% w-w to 51.5TW
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at sw.kang@nhqv.com. -- Ed.Sensitivity to policy for US 10yr TB yields is lessening at a time when sensitivity to economic growth is amplifying. With this being a typical pattern at the end of a rate upcycle, long-term TB yiel
Japan’s annual economic growth rate is forecast to exceed South Korea’s this year for the first time in 25 years. The IMF recently lowered its 2023 South Korean economic growth forecast from 2 percent to 1.7 percent and adjusted its forecast for Japan from 1.7 percent to 1.8 percent.According to exp
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. He can be reached at kimtaehee@kbfg.com. -- Ed.Maintain BUY; trim target price (KRW72,000→KRW70,000) We trim our TP (KRW72,000→KRW70,000) on Yuhan to reflect changes to 2023 ERP (5.41%), RFR (3.32%) and earnings estimates following the 4Q22 earnings release
Statistics Korea announced on Feb. 20 that South Koreans’ 2019 to 2021 life satisfaction is 5.9 on a scale of 1 to 10. The OECD average is 6.7 and South Korea’s figure is the 36th in the group of 38 countries. Colombia and Türkiye recorded 5.8 and 4.7, respectively.According to the agency, South Kor
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. He can be reached at cygun101@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Mid-/long-term shareholder return policy proportionate to CET1 ratio level— HFG posted 2022 consolidated NP (attributable to controlling interests) of KRW3.6tn (+2.8% YoY).— NII rose 20.0% YoY with growth in bo
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at dongyang.kim@nhqv.com. -- Ed. LG Corp is expected to strengthen its business portfolio, using its net cash holdings of W1.6tn for M&As and CVC establishment. Also, its dividend income should rise, leading to a steady increa