The country’s 10 largest conglomerates on average spared less in social donations despite raking in a larger net profit last year, Chaebul.com reported on Sunday. A total of seven conglomerates donated more funds for social contribution, but the remaining three gave considerably less, dragging down the average, said the portal devoted to information on top conglomerates here. The seven groups that gave more are Samsung, Hyundai Motor, LG, Lotte, POSCO, Hanjin and Hanwha. Samsung Group made the m

South Korean stocks are expected to gather ground this week, allaying concerns on a sudden liquidity squeeze as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reassured that a loose monetary policy would be kept, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 1,869.98 on Friday, up 2 percent from the previous week. The main bourse moved in rangebound earlier in the week, as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of Bernanke’s speech. After the Fed chairman’s remarks backin

South Korean securities companies are estimated to have seen their bottom lines plunge in the first quarter of fiscal 2013 from a year earlier due mainly to a prolonged stock market slump, a market tracker said Sunday.According to financial information provider FnGuide, five of six major securities companies, which have three or more first-quarter earnings estimates, have suffered sharp declines in their bottom lines for the April-June period. Local securities firms close their books on March 31

Financial markets driven by external conditions rather than domestic policies

South Korea will likely collect 10 trillion won (US$8.9 billion) less in taxes during the first half than a year earlier, raising worries that the government might need to draft a second extra budget plan to fill the revenue gap, datashowed Sunday.According to the data submitted by the National Tax Service (NTS) to lawmakers, the government had collected 82.13 trillion won worth of taxes during the January-May period, which is about 9 trillion won less than the same period a year earlier.The tax

The total amount invested by South Korean funds in overseas assets rose 7.4 percent in the first half of 2013 from six months earlier as investors’ appetite for safer assets grew, data showed Friday.Local funds’ investment in offshore assets reached 39.7 trillion won ($35.3 billion) as of end-June, compared to 37 trillion won tallied at end-December 2012, the data by the Korea Financial Investment Association showed.The association said the increase came as investors sought after safer assets su

The financial regulator said Friday it has taken disciplinary measures against 10 local savings banks for slack management in lending and network security.The Financial Supervisory Service slapped 16 employees at 10 savings banks, including executives, with either cautionary warnings or warnings for lax handling in loan business and securing network safety, according to FSS officials.The names include some of those recently debuted in the market with a new name after they were taken over by majo

The government will accept “preliminary” bids from potential investors for Kwangju Bank and Kyongnam Bank after it puts up a notice on the sale of the two provincial units of Woori Financial Group next Monday.Among the preliminary bidders, state agencies will single out several competitive investors ― the so-called “short list” ― for the taxpayers’ money-injected Woori Financial.The state-led project, however, is likely to face several stumbling blocks. There is a high possibility that the “logi

South Korean stocks closed 0.41 percent lower Friday, led by steep falls in auto stocks following media reports that China may restrict new car purchases, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dropped 7.62 points to finish at 1,869.98. Trading volume was light at 262.3 million shares worth 3.42 trillion won ($3.04 billion), but gainers marginally outpaced losers 404 to 380. "News from China that it may further expa

South Korean stocks traded 0.26 percent lower late Friday morning, led by losses in automakers and financial firms, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 4.88 points to 1,872.72 as of 11:20 a.m.Hyundai Motor tumbled 4.5 percent, with its smaller affiliate Kia Motors also dropping 4.2 percent. No. 4 lender Shinhan Financial and leading life insurer Samsung Life Insurance lost ground, slipping 1.4 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. But chemical companies a

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Friday, as investors opted to sell off shares on profit-taking following the 3 percent rally in the previous session, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 5.59 points, or 0.3 percent to 1,872.01 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Top-listed blue-chips led the fall. Tech giant Samsung Electronics inched down 0.08 percent, with leading carmaker Hyundai Motor tumbling more than 3 percent. In contrast, steelmaker POS

Lender accused of reckless investment as well as lax cyber security

LG Display Co., a South Korean display giant, Thursday unveiled what it claims to be the world’s slimmest full HD LCD panel for smartphones.The 5.2-inch panel is only 2.2 millimeters thin enabling sleeker smartphones featuring better grip-ability and a superior viewing experience.The panel will also provide larger visible display space on smartphones, which is critical as mobile devices are used for multimedia viewing more than ever before, LG Display said.The new panel will be mounted on the Op

SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korea’s state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. will help set up power distribution lines at the Zaatari camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan as part of its global support program, the company said Thursday.The decision came after a request was made from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to provide technical consultation on power distribution and maintenance.A group of experts will head for Jordan on Sunday to help evaluate the camp’s power distribution sy