The nation’s main bourse has not been excluded from the yearly list of public agencies, the Ministry of Finance announced Thursday.In its unveiling of the 2013 list for public agencies, the Finance Ministry said the Korea Exchange will still be placed under state control this year. The government has “no stake” in the bourse.While the ministry under the Lee Myung-bak administration designated it as a public agency in 2009, there has been growing criticism as no such case exists in financial mark

GS Homeshopping, the nation’s No. 2 homeshopping outlet, on Thursday said it achieved a record-high profit in the fourth quarter on the back of improved sales margins. The Seoul-based company’s quarterly operating profit in the October-December 2012 period rose by over 80 percent from the same period the previous year to reach 50.8 billion won ($46.6 million), while sales rose by more than 10 percent to 818.2 billion won. Most of the sales appeared to be coming from fashion items, according to E

Telecom giant only allowed service existing users from Jan. 31-Feb. 21

FKI issues regret about court ruling

Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea’s leading auto parts maker, said Thursday that its net profit jumped 17 percent last year from a year earlier on increased sales.Net profit reached 3.54 trillion won ($3.25 billion) last year, compared with a profit of 3.03 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Sales also spiked 17 percent on-year to 30.79 trillion won over the cited period, and operating income also surged 10.2 percent to 2.91 trillion won, it said.The auto parts mak

Hyundai Steel, the nation’s second-largest steel manufacturer, saw a decrease in its sales and operating profits last year, while its net profit grew.In its annual regulatory filing on Thursday, the company said that it recorded 14.1 trillion won ($13 billion) in sales last year, 870.8 billion won in operating profit and 791.4 billion won in net profit.The sales and operating profits fell by 7.4 percent and 31.9 percent respectively on-year, but the net profit saw a 7.6 percent rise, officials s

Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., a South Korean industrial parts maker, said Thursday its net profit jumped 26.1 percent last year on the back of growing demand for mobile components.The company’s annual net profit reached 441 billion won ($404.4 million) in 2012, compared with 349.5 billion won in the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing.Revenue climbed 31.2 percent on-year to 7.9 trillion won last year, while operating profit more than doubled to 580.5 billion won in the cited

Samsung Heavy Industries Co., a South Korean shipbuilder, said Wednesday that its earnings sank 6.4 percent in 2012 from a year earlier as it set aside reserves against compensation for damage caused by the country’s largest oil spill.Net profit reached 796 billion won ($734 million) last year, compared with 851 billion won reported a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Sales gained 8.2 percent on-year to reach 14.49 trillion won in 2012, and operating income surged 11.4 percen

Korea’s dependency rate on renewable energy sources in total electricity supply is likely to rise to 12 percent by 2027, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy seid on Thursday. In the first National Energy Basic Plan for 2008 to 2030, the energy policy master plan, the portion of electricity from renewable energy sources to the total supply by 2027 was put at 7 percent.The new target for renewable energy sources came in a draft of the 6th Basic Plan for Long-Term Electricity Supply and Demand for 20

South Korean stocks ended 0.13 percent lower on Thursday mainly due to losses in banks and insurers. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 2.49 points to 1,961.94. Trading volume was moderate at 394.3 million shares worth 4.4 trillion won (US$4 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 445 to 370."Basically, we didn't have much good news from abroad. There were concerns over U.S. growth as well as the Italian stock market

South Korean stocks traded 0.22 percent lower late Thursday morning due to losses in shares of major banking groups and technology firms, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 4.36 points to 1,960.07 as of 11:20 a.m.Financials led the decline, with Shinhan Financial slumping 3.34 percent. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics also slipped 0.21 percent.Automakers limited losses, with No. 2 carmaker Kia Motors adding 2.77 percent.The local currency was changing