Samsung Electronics Co., the world's top maker of computer memory chips and smartphones, said Friday its first-quarter profit spiked 42 percent from a year earlier, buoyed by robust shipments of its flagship Galaxy S3 handsets.Net profit came to 7.15 trillion won ($6.44 billion) in the January-March period, compared with 5.05 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Revenue soared 16.8 percent on-year to 52.87 trillion won in the first quarter and operating profit cli

Creditors of STX Offshore & Shipbuilding agreed Thursday to provide the ailing South Korean shipbuilder with 600 billion won (US$540 million) in emergency loans, the main creditor bank said.   STX Offshore, the shipbuilding unit of STX Group, a South Korean shipping and shipbuilding conglomerate, has been suffering a credit crunch as demand for new ships has fallen sharply in the past few years.   A senior official at Korea Development Bank (KDB), the main creditor, said that seven creditor bank

The Korean Trade Commission ruled that three small-sized companies last year suffered direct trade losses from the effectuation of the Korea-EU or Korea-U.S. free trade agreements, officials said Thursday.The three corresponding firms were a pork processor, a spinning machine accessory producer and a wine manufacturer.The first two experienced a drastic fall in sales in the first half of last year due to the increase of imports from Europe. The wine company was hit by the mass imports of U.S. wi

Incheon International Airport won the bid to host the 2014 Airports Council International Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly, Conference and Exhibition, company officials said Thursday. The selection was made at this year’s conference held in Phuket, Thailand, from April 22-25. Lee Young-keun, acting president of the airport, said the conference will be held from May 26-28 at COEX in southeastern Seoul, adding that he expected to welcome around 600 guests. “Incheon Airport has been named the best ai

Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., a South Korean industrial parts maker, said Thursday its first-quarter net profit jumped 39 percent from a year earlier on the back of growing demand for mobile components.Net profit reached 97.8 billion won ($87.5 million) in the January-March period, compared with a profit of 70.4 billion won in the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing.Revenue climbed 17 percent on-year to 2.04 trillion won in the past quarter, and operating profit surged 20 per

The nation’s top steelmaker POSCO recorded 14.6 trillion won ($13 billion) in total sales, 717 billion won in operating profit, and 292 billion won in net profit in the first quarter of the year, company officials said Thursday.The holding company of POSCO alone recorded 7.7 trillion won in sales and 581 billion won in operating profit, which was a 4.8 percent fall and a 53.3 percent rise from the previous quarter, respectively.“Though the total sales level fell slightly due to the fall in globa

Hyundai Motor said Thursday that its operating profit declined 10.7 percent to 1.868 trillion won ($1.679 billion) in the first quarter despite increased car deliveries globally. Sales reached 21.36 trillion won, a 6 percent increase from a year ago.The nation’s largest carmaker sold 1,171,804 vehicles globally between January and March, up 9.2 percent from the same period last year. In Korea alone, its sales decreased 0.7 percent to 153,728 vehicles.The company said that currency effects, coupl

More rejected borrowers may resort to private moneylenders

Daewoo International Corp., a leading South Korean trading company, said Thursday that its net income more than tripled in the first quarter from a year ago, boosted by a sharp increase in profits from its equity investments. Net income came to 24.9 billion won ($22.4 million) in the January-March period, compared with 7.6 billion won a year ago, the trading company said in a regulatory filing. Sales, however, fell 10.8 percent to 4.07 trillion won in the same period, with operating profit dropp

Major affiliates of STX Group, a South Korean shipping conglomerate, suffered a liquidity crunch last year, data showed Thursday, raising concerns over the firms’ deteriorating financial status.According to the data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service, four out of the business group’s five listed firms saw their current ratio, the key barometer of liquidity, fall below 100 percent in 2012.The current ratio refers to a firm’s ability to repay debts maturing in one year, with higher numb