Marking 20 years of Hong Kong unit, brokerage firm looks to take leap in India

South Korea’s pharmaceutical companies are accelerating the development of anti-obesity drugs to take share in the rapidly growing market, which is estimated to hit $100 billion by 2030. Hanmi Pharmaceutical is one of a few Korean drug companies that have been pushing ahead with their clinical trials for homegrown anti-obesity drugs. The drug company is currently expected to be the first Korean company that will launch a homegrown anti-obesity drug. “Hanmi Pharmaceutical is the only

Korean govt. pledges W9.7tr policy funding to reduce reliance on Chinese materials

New York-listed e-commerce giant Coupang reported Wednesday that its sales soared to a record high of $7.1 billion in the first quarter of this year, but operating profits were almost cut in half largely due to the losses from Farfetch, the luxury shopping platform it acquired last year. According to its earnings report earlier in the day, its revenue reached $7.1 billion in the January-March period, up 23 percent from a year ago. Its operating profits were $40 million, which compared to $167.

HD Hyundai Marine Solution, a ship maintenance unit affiliated with Korean shipbuilding giant HD Hyundai, made its stock debut Wednesday, with the stock price soaring on the first day of trading. Listed on Kospi, the nation’s main bourse, its stock opened at 119,900 won ($88), a 48.8 percent surge from the initial public offering price of 84,300 won. It hit a high of 166,100 won before closing at 163,900 won. During its book-building period earlier in April, the company managed to amass

South Korean online-only lender Kakao Bank announced Wednesday that its net profit hit a record high of 111.2 billion won ($81.44 million) in the first quarter, a 9 percent increase from the previous year. Operating profit for the same period was 148.4 billion won, up 8.8 percent from last year. The bank said it achieved balanced growth across various business sectors, driven by a steady increase in customer numbers and the successful launch of products and services. Total customer numbers grew

Korea will put Naver’s interest in the forefront in coming up with countermeasures to cope with the Korean IT firm’s conundrum of the Japanese government’s pressure on Naver to give up its ownership in Line, a leading messaging app in Japan that Naver has fostered for over a dozen years, the Korean science minister said Wednesday. “Regarding Japan’s administrative guidance of (Line), we have been continuously and closely cooperating with Naver to guarantee the maxim

A report showed Wednesday that women account for only 3.2 percent of all inside directors at the biggest companies in South Korea. There are 787 inside directors and 850 outside directors on the boards of the 30 largest South Korean conglomerates and their 298 affiliates according to the local market analysis firm Leaders Index. There are 174 female outside directors and 25 female inside directors, each accounting for 20.5 percent and 3.2 percent of the respective totals. All 30 conglomerates ha

A Czech envoy visited a South Korean nuclear power plant last week amid the ongoing process to select the winner for the European nation's construction project estimated at around 30 trillion won ($22 billion), industry sources said Wednesday. Ivan Jancarek, the Czech Republic's ambassador to South Korea, visited the Saeul Nuclear Power Plant in Ulsan, 299 kilometers south of Seoul, on Friday, and was briefed on the overall operations of the facility, according to the sources. The visi

Korean logistics companies are boosting their investment in their facilities to cope with the country’s increasing direct purchases from China, industry sources said Tuesday. According to Korea Customs Service, the number of items purchased through Chinese online shopping platforms last year reached 88.8 million, up 70.3 percent on-year. The combined value of those transactions also came to some 3.3 trillion won ($2.43 billion), up 121.2 percent from a year ago. The number of monthly activ

Korean chipmakers dominating HBM market are skeptical about China catching up

South Korea's National Pension Service will pour a record 1.5 trillion won ($1.1 billion) in alternative assets managed by external managers this year, the largest such allocation in the fund's history. The majority of the sum, 1 trillion won, will go to private equity funds, according to a recent announcement by the NPS, marking a 25 percent increase from the previous year. In 2023, the NPS allocated 800 billion won to private equity, with Macquarie Asset Management, IMM Private Equit

Mirae Asset Global Investments, a leading asset manager based in Korea, announced on Tuesday its high dividend yield exchange-traded fund has been included in the Stock Connect Scheme, a program that allows mainland China investors access to certain eligible Hong Kong-listed ETFs. The Global X Hang Seng High Dividend Yield ETF, operated by the asset manager's Hong Kong branch, was included in the program on Monday. The ETF tracks shares with high dividend yields on the Hong Kong Stock Excha

Korean energy firm begins operation at production site in Cartersville, Georgia

It's 'now or never' if Korean firms are to secure leadership in AI chip industry, experts warn