Hyundai Engineering & Construction announced on Feb. 7 that it has been awarded the highest grade in the climate change response sector, “Leadership A,” by the Korean Committee of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a global sustainable management evaluation organization.Leadership A is a grade awa
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’s current account surplus reached US$35.5 billion in 2023. This was mainly because the volume of goods exports reaching a yearly high at the end of 2023.The current account surplus stood at US$7.41 billion in December, according to a December 2023 provisional balance of payments data released
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
Samsung smartphones, once leading the market in the United States, have seen a significant drop in market share, facing a crisis as Galaxy sales plummet in one of the world’s largest markets.According to market research firm Counterpoint Research on Feb. 6, Samsung Electronics’ market share in the U
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
Due to the strength of the U.S. dollar, the foreign exchange reserves decreased last month for the first time in three months.According to the statistics of the “Foreign Reserves as of the End of January 2024” publication released by the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Feb. 5, South Korea’s foreign reserves
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
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
Hana Securities announced on Feb. 1 that it is establishing a foreign investment solution team to expand its customer base to non-resident foreigners.Last year, the foreign investor registration system, which had been criticized as one of the obstacles for foreign investors in domestic investments,
The ruling People Power Party has decided to prioritize the passage of an amendment to the Korea Export-Import Bank Act in a February extraordinary session of the Korean National Assembly in order to secure a second contract worth 30 trillion won for arms exports to Poland.According to sources in th
The sale of ECORBIT, which is considered the key element in the normalization of Taeyoung Engineering & Construction, is gaining momentum with the selection of lead managers. UBS and Citigroup Global Markets Securities, two global investment banks (IBs), have been assigned the task.According to sour
Cho Dong-chul, the president of Korea Development Institute (KDI), publicly issued a stark warning on government debt, going so far as to state, “The country will collapse.” In particular, he cautioned that South Korea’s national debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio could skyrocket to over 250
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
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 author is an analyst for Shinhan Securities. She can be reached at hpark@shinhan.com -- Ed.4Q23 OP falls short due to inventory adjustments at distributorsAmorepacific posted consolidated operating profit of KRW20.7bn (-64% YoY) on sales of KRW926bn (-15% YoY) for 4Q23, missing our estimate (KRW
China Unicom Beijing and Huawei have successfully deployed a pilot large-scale 5.5G network in Beijing to provide continuous coverage in three key areas, including Beijing Financial Street in the city center, the landmark Beijing Long Distance Call Building, and multipurpose Workers' Stadium. This f
Incheon will host this year’s APAC Wind Energy Summit on 26-28 November 2024.The thriving port city in South Korea has abundant potential for offshore wind development and provides the perfect setting for local, national and international groups to come together and drive the region’s offshore wind