Shinhan, KB, Woori, Hana expected to lose W2tr in 2012 net profit

The Bank of Korea said Sunday that it has allowed 12 local commercial banks, beginning with Korea Exchange Bank, to extend renminbi-denominated loans to Korean traders for the first time.This comes as Korea’s central bank and the People’s Bank of China agreed to let their companies settle trade bills with their respective currencies using part of the two sides’ currency swap deal worth 64 trillion won or 360 billion yuan.Korean importers would be able to borrow from their local lenders that will

Kyobo Life not to go public in 2013: sourcesKyobo Life Insurance Co., South Korea’s second-largest life insurer, is unlikely to seek an initial public offering (IPO) this year due to worsening market conditions at home and abroad, industry sources said Sunday.Citing no need to raise funds and a global economic slowdown, Kyobo Life Insurance has decided not to list its shares on the domestic stock market, according to the sources.It marks the second consecutive year that Kyobo Life Insurance has

 South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. sold more than 400 million mobile phones last year, outstripping Nokia Corp. as the world's leading handset vendor, an industry report showed Sunday.   According to the latest report by International Data Corp., Samsung's shipments of smartphones and other handsets jumped 22.7 percent on-year to 407 million in 2012, taking up 23.7 percent of the global cellphone market.   In comparison, last year's top global vendor Nokia saw its sales tumble 19.5

South Korea's listed heavy industry companies saw their market capitalization plunge by 34 trillion won ($32 billion) in the last four months, hit by the Japanese yen's rapid descent, industry data showed Sunday.    The combined market cap of local heavy industry firms, including automakers and shipyards, tumbled 19.2 percent to 142.8 trillion won as of last Friday, compared with the 176.8 trillion won tallied on Sept. 17, 2012, the highest number recorded for the second half of last year, accor

STX Group, a South Korean shipping and shipbuilding conglomerate, said Friday its Chinese unit has clinched a 200 billion won ($187 million) deal to build four bulk carriers.Under the deal with a European shipping firm, STX Dalian Shipbuilding will build the vessels at its yard in Dalian, a port city in northeastern China, and deliver them by the first half of 2015, the group said. The group did not reveal the name of the buyer.A group official said STX Dalian Shipbuilding, based on its strong c

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co.’s sports utility vehicle Santa Fe has received top scores to be named the safest car in its segment by a European car assessment program, the company said Friday.At the latest test by the European New Car Assessment Program, the Santa Fe garnered 96 percent in adult occupant protection and 89 percent in child occupant protection categories, which measure how stable the passenger compartment remains in the case of frontal impact.The Hyundai SUV also earned

SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korea is considering developing a new leading indicator for trade conditions this year to better predict the economic trends of Asia’s fourth-largest economy, officials said Friday.Statistics Korea said the government is thinking of developing an indicator that would measure economic outlooks by tracking the trends of the country’s exports and imports.The index will be made by calculating an on-month growth rate of customs-cleared exports and imports, according to of

An international consortium, including Korea Gas Corp., or KOGAS, signed a joint exploration and production contact with the Cyprus government to search for gas in three offshore blocks, KOGAS said. “The consortium is composed of KOGAS and Italy’s ENI. KOGAS secures a 20 percent stake in the consortium, while ENI holds the remaining 80 percent stake,” a KOGAS official said Friday. “Operations for gas search on blocks 2, 3, 9 off the east Mediterranean island will be led by ENI for the next three

Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., South Korea’s leading builder, said Friday that its 2012 earnings dropped 18 percent from a year earlier.Its consolidated net profit came to 560 billion won ($521 million) last year, compared with 685.1 billion won in 2011, the company said.Sales, however, jumped 11.8 percent on-year to 13.3 trillion won in 2012, and operating profit increased 3.4 percent on-year to 760 billion won. (Yonhap News)

Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s second-largest automaker, said Friday that its 2012 earnings climbed 9.8 percent from a year earlier thanks to steady sales in overseas markets.Net profit reached 3.86 trillion won ($3.6 billion) last year, compared with 3.52 trillion won for a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Sales rose 9.4 percent on-year to 47.2 trillion won in 2012, and operating profit also climbed 0.7 percent to 3.5 trillion won.For the fourth quarter of last year, Kia’s