South Korean companies are forecast to have posted worse-than-expected earnings in the second quarter as they grappled with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome fallout and an economic slowdown in China, data showed Wednesday. The combined operating profit for 209 companies listed on the main KOSPI market was estimated at 33.11 trillion won ($29.21 billion) for the April-June period, according to the data compiled by market researcher WiseFn. The latest figure was 1.5 percent down from the previ

A leading South Korean think tank sharply lowered its 2015 forecast of the economy's growth Tuesday, citing falling exports and the fallout from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak. In its latest economic outlook, the LG Economic Research Institute revised down its growth prediction to 2.6 percent from an earlier 3 percent estimate made three months ago. The South Korean economy expanded 3.3 percent on-year in 2014.The downgrade was largely attributed to the country's weak exports, as

Growth of household loans extended by South Korean financial institutions slowed sharply in May from a month earlier due mainly to a policy loan program aimed at improving the quality of household debt, central bank data showed Tuesday.Outstanding household lending by local lenders and non-banking institutions totaled 768.2 trillion won ($682.2 billion) as of the end of May, growing 2.9 trillion won from the previous month, according to the data by the Bank of Korea.The monthly gain marks a shar

A Seoul court on Tuesday turned down a U.S. hedge fund's request to stop a friendly shareholder of Samsung C&T Corp. from voting on a proposed merger with another Samsung unit with treasury shares bought from the builder.Samsung C&T, the construction and trading arm of Samsung Group, is facing opposition from Elliott Associates over a takeover offer in May by Cheil Industries Inc., the group's de facto holding firm. The Seoul Central District Court said Samsung C&T's sale of treasury shares to K

Samsung Electronics Co. estimated Tuesday that its second-quarter operating income fell about 4 percent from a year earlier as weak sales of its newest smartphones fell shy of expectations.Operating profit reached 6.9 trillion won ($6.13 billion) in the April-June period, down 4.03 percent from the 7.19 trillion won posted a year earlier, Samsung said in a regulatory filing.The estimate marks a 15.38 percent rise from the operating profit of 5.98 trillion won three months earlier. But the on-qua

South Korean stocks started a tad higher Tuesday on speculation that Greece would return to negotiations with creditors, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 4.78 points, or 0.23 percent, to 2,058.71 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said earlier that his government is ready to start talks with creditors while leaders of Germany and France will meet other eurozone leaders Wednesday.Shares of Samsung Group affiliates led the incre

South Korean stocks tumbled 2.4 percent to a two-week low Monday as a Greek referendum against austerity measures proposed by its international lenders clouded the future of the eurozone and reduced investors' appetite for risky assets, analysts said. The local currency declined against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 50.48 points to close at 2,053.93. Trading volume was moderate at 463.9 million shares worth 6.3 trillion won ($5.6 billion) with losers far ou

South Korea's Samsung SDI Co. and LG Chem Ltd. have outpaced global rivals in terms of strategy and execution in the energy storage system battery industry, a report showed Monday.LG Chem led the corporate assessment in the ESS segment with a total score of 84, trailed by Samsung SDI with 83.5, the report released by U.S.-based market tracker Navigant Research showed.The ESS refers to the procedures of saving energy in a large-scale battery for efficient distribution of power. For example, an ES

South Korean banks saw their mortgage lending jump by more than 9 trillion won ($8.01 billion) in June from the previous month, data showed Sunday, due to sharply increased housing transactions.  As of end-June, the nation's seven major banks, including Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori and Hana, held 321.04 trillion won in outstanding mortgage loans, down from 330.9 trillion won a month earlier, according to the data by the lenders.  The actual amount, however, jumped by 9.3 trillion won last month, give

South Korean stocks closed marginally lower Friday, as investors took a cautious approach ahead of Greece's crucial referendum on a bailout plan on Sunday, analysts said. The local currency rose slightly against the U.S. dollar.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 2.92 points, or 0.14 percent to close at 2,104.41. Trading volume was moderate at 412.6 million shares worth 5.87 trillion won ($5.23 billion) with decliners outpacing gainers 418 to 389.   "While investors a

South Korean shipbuilders, led by industry leader Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., have secured the largest amount of new orders in the first six months of the year to retain the top slot, while the global shipbuilding industry saw new orders halve, industry data showed Friday.  According to the data compiled by global researcher Clarkson Research Services, South Korean shipyards clinched new orders totaling 5.92 million compensated gross tons during the January-June period, compared with 6.16 mill

South Korean refiners are expected to have racked up robust earnings in the second quarter on the back of higher cracking margins and stable oil prices, industry data showed Friday.  The nation's three refiners posted their worst-ever performance last year as a freefall in oil prices hurt the value of their crude inventories with the combined operating reaching 2.6 trillion won.   But they swung to the black in the first quarter as cracking margins climbed and crude prices remained at stable lev

The finance ministry said Friday that it plans to spread out the sale of Treasurys needed to cover a large portion of this year's proposed extra budget to prevent instability in the local bond market.The government drew up an 11.8 trillion-won ($10.5 billion) supplementary budget plan to contain the fallout from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome  outbreak and thus help Asia's fourth-largest economy keep its growth momentum, some 9.6 trillion won of which will be financed with the debt sales.A

South Korea on Friday outlined an 11.8 trillion-won ($10.5 billion) extra budget plan designed to prop up its economy that is being dragged down by weak consumption and fallout from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak.The plan that is part of a much larger 22 trillion-won economic stimulus package aimed at helping Asia's fourth-largest economy grow at a clip of more than 3 percent this year and laying the foundation for more robust growth in 2016, the finance ministry said.The extra bu