South Korean consumer electronics giant LG Electronics Inc. saw its net loss widen in the fourth quarter from a year earlier due to increased marketing costs and a one-off TV cartel fine. Net loss came to 467.8 billion won ($431 million) in the October-December period, growing more than three-fold from the loss of 111.6 billion won the previous year, LG Electronics said in a regulatory filing.Revenue slipped 2.3 percent on-year to 13.5 trillion won over the cited period, while operating profit j

South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc. reported a second straight quarterly profit as its debt load eased and sales benefited from increased demand for chips used in smartphones and servers. The company said Wednesday its October-December net profit totaled 163.7 billion won ($151 million) compared with a 239.9 billion won loss a year earlier. SK Hynix returned to the black in the July-September quarter with a 2 billion won profit following a period of losses due to a slump in chip prices and weak

The U.S. court looks to be changing its stance on the Samsung-Apple global patent litigation with Apple with the court acknowledging that Samsung patent infringements were not intentional on Wednesday.U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh denied Apple’s argument that the $1.05 billion damages award against Samsung from its previous patent infringement trial should be increased.She found that Samsung’s infringement was not “willful,” denying a new trial and leaving the August jury findings largely untouch

South Korean stocks traded 0.17 percent higher late Wednesday morning on the back of gains in tech shares, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 3.4 points to 1,959.36. Techs led the gains, with the world's two biggest computer memory chip makers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix gaining 1.14 percent and 1.45 percent, respectively.In contrast, automakers stayed in negative territory, with top player Hyundai Motor falling 1.21 percent.The local currency was

South Korean stocks began higher on Wednesday, boosted by gains in major technology firms, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 7.06 points, or 0.36 percent, to 1,963.02 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 1.21 percent and SK hynix, which announced its fourth-quarter earnings ahead of the market's open, added 2.69 percent.Shipbuilders were also bullish, with leading player Hyundai Heavy Industries gaining 1.61 perc

South Korea's industrial output grew at a weaker pace than a month earlier in December, raising worries industrial activities might be slowing amid toughened economic conditions, a government report showed Wednesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries increased 0.8 percent last month from a year earlier, compared with a revised 3.2 percent on-year gain tallied in November.The output expanded 1 percent from a month e

Korea’s services account has swung into the black for the first time in 14 years, mainly thanks to robust transportation transactions, the Bank of Korea said Wednesday.This has helped the country to achieve an annual record in the current account surplus, the broadest measure of trade.Korea’s current account surplus reached a record high of $43.25 billion in 2012, remaining in the black for 15 consecutive years.The current account surplus increased $17.18 billion to $43.25 billion last year, sur

While those who work for industrial giants such as Samsung and LG expect solid rewards for their stellar performances, there will be no bonus party for the financial sector, which had their worst year in 2012. The financial brothers of Samsung ― Samsung Life, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance and Samsung Card ― however, are an exception.Banks including Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Woori, Hana and NH Nonghyup will offer zero or less than half of last year’s performance-based bonuses this year.The banks’ co

The Korean economy will gradually regain momentum as the global economic recovers, the Korean Center for International Finance said in a research report released on Monday.Citing Goldman Sachs, the KCIF stated that the incoming administration’s stimulus plans along with a positive outlook on China’s economic growth will enable the domestic economy to keep building momentum for recovery, despite lowered expectations over the nation’s economic growth.Goldman Sachs cut Korea’s expected economic gro

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday it has acquired a U.S. medical equipment firm as part of efforts to bolster its healthcare business.Samsung Electronics America acquired NeuroLogica, a leading computed tomography company headquartered in Danvers, Massachusetts, the company said in a press release. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.Samsung’s U.S. unit will control the U.S. medical equipment maker, which develops medical imaging products and portable CT sca

The nation’s financial regulator is looking into the allegation that former Shinhan Financial Group chairman Ra Eung-chan had illicitly used more borrowed-name bank accounts than were revealed about two years ago.“We are reviewing documents to verify whether the allegation is true,” an official of the Financial Supervisory Service said Tuesday.But he said the FSS has yet to decide whether to launch a re-investigation into Ra’s irregularities, after he was already reprimanded by the regulator for

SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korea’s antitrust watchdog needs to launch an organization focused exclusively on tackling problems caused by excessive concentration of power and market influence in large conglomerates, its head said Tuesday.“In order to tackle problems related to large business groups, which is crucial to economic democratization, we need to create an organization that will exclusively take the lead (on the issue),” Fair Trade Commission chairman Kim Dong-soo told reporters during

Sales and operating profits of POSCO, the world’s fifth-largest steelmaker by output, fell in 2012 from the previous year, but outperformed rivals in profit margin on sales, the company said Tuesday.Sales of POSCO Group’s steel business in 2012 dropped 9 percent to 35.7 trillion won ($33 billion) on-year. Operating profit from the steel business plunged 35.6 percent to 2.8 trillion won ($2.6 billion) in the same period. The sharp fall in operating profit resulted from the impact of the global st