KB Financial Group Inc. submitted a bid Monday to acquire the local unit of global insurance giant ING Group, as the group scrambles to expand its presence in the fast-growing insurance market, industry sources said. Korea’s No. 2 banking group made its bid to buy ING Life Korea, the fourth-largest in the country by market share, in a deal worth of around 3.5 trillion won ($3.04 billion), according to sources.AIA Group, the multinational life insurer, is also believed to have submitted a bid for

South Korean stocks rose 0.27 percent on Monday as investor sentiment was boosted by growing expectations over a global recovery and corporate earnings forecasts, analysts said. The local currency gained ground against the U.S. dollar.The Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 4.9 points to finish at 1,817.79. Trading volume was light at 263.5 million shares worth 3.2 trillion won ($2.8 billion), with losers slightly outpacing gainers 408 to 407.“Investors are relieved by China’s not-so-bad e

Korea’s rising household and public debts could pose downside risks for its sovereign credit rating, a global credit appraiser forecast on Monday. Standard & Poor’s said the rate of Korea’s indebtedness to its disposable income has been rising, with the debt of non-banking public institutions growing rapidly since 2008.“Household debts continue to grow and it could complicate monetary policy for the central bank ... (and place it) in a difficult position to have to allow inflationary pressure, w

Hana Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s No. 4 banking group, said Monday its second-quarter earnings fell 54 percent from a year earlier due mainly to the absence of a one-off stake gain.Net income came to 225.1 billion won ($196.2 million) in the April-June period, compared with 489.8 billion won the previous year, said the group, which competed to buy the Korea Exchange Bank in February.Hana Financial’s net profits include KEB’s earnings results.In the second quarter of 2011, the group posted

Foreign investment banks and asset management companies are paying huge dividends that surpass their net profits or remitting a large amount of profit to their headquarters overseas. Standard Chartered Bank Korea paid a dividend of 100 billion won ($87.1 million) this year to Standard Chartered Korea, the 100 percent shareholder of the bank. Dividend per share was 381 won. The dividend was the same amount as last year although the bank’s net profit decreased by 21 percent to about 255 billion wo

South Korea’s biggest bond investors expect the Bank of Korea to lower borrowing costs again this year, as Thursday’s unexpected cut signals the nation’s economy has deteriorated.The Bank of Korea unexpectedly reduced the benchmark seven- day repurchase rate to 3 percent from 3.25 percent, the first cut since February 2009, it said in a statement today in Seoul. Only two of 16 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News predicted the move, while the rest expected no change.Samsung Asset Management Co.

Korean stocks are expected to move upward this week, trying to make up for the sharp losses seen in the last seven days, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index tumbled 3.2 percent from a week earlier to finish at 1,812.89 this week, as investors opted to sell off shares on disappointing U.S. employment data and a hike in borrowing costs for Spanish debts. The main index plunged as low as the 1,780 mark on Thursday after the central bank lowered its key rate for the first

Payment by credit card surpasses 60% for first time while card issuances dropPurchases made by credit card surpassed 60 percent of all purchases made in the first quarter for the first time. Korea’s Credit Finance Association announced on Sunday that payment by credit card reached 63.3 percent in the first quarter. It means that most purchases were done by credit cards, said the association, probably excluding small amounts below 2,000 won paid in cash. The ratio increased almost three-fold from

Despite the government’s various monetary policy measures including the key interest rate cut to 3 percent, money circulation is slowing more than ever in Korea, reports showed. According to the Bank of Korea, money multiplier, the core indicator used to assess circulation levels, dropped to 21.9, it’s lowest point in the past decade. Money multiplier is the ratio of the volume of the money and substitutes in circulation to the volume of actual money supplied by the central bank. A decrease in t

South Korea’s central bank said Friday that it has revised its projection on the nation’s GDP growth rate for 2012 to 3 percent.The figure is lower than the Bank of Korea’s earlier prediction of 3.5 percent in April and 3.7 percent in December 2011.The BOK’s GDP outlook is even bleaker than that forecast by the Finance Ministry last month, which was 3.3 percent. In its “Economic Outlook for Second Half of 2012,” the bank said that growth levels are projected to be 2.7 percent for the first half

Major foreign investment banks expect South Korea to cut its key interest rate one more time within the year to buttress the faltering economy weighed down by the eurozone jitters, a report showed Friday.Foreign IBs, including Nomura and HSBC, predict the central bank to slash the benchmark rate by 0.25 percentage point to 2.75 percent as early as September or by the end of this year at the latest, according to the report by the Korea Center for International Finance.The Bank of Korea on Thursda

Sales of cars fueled by liquefied petroleum gas surged 20 percent in the first five months of this year mainly due to high gasoline prices, a report showed Friday.According to the Korea LPG Association report, sales of cars that run on the liquefied mixture of propane, butane and other chemicals, reached 76,209 units in the cited period, up from 63,303 an year earlier.In contrast, sales of gasoline-powered cars dropped 15 percent on-year to 286,922 units, while diesel car sales remained virtuall

Public companies providing exclusive services should be cautious when making price hike decisions and consider possible effects such action could have on inflation and the overall economy, South Korea’s top economic policymaker said Friday.“Public companies, unlike private ones, usually provide exclusive services. They have to make decisions (on prices) by taking into consideration their ripple effect on the whole economy,” Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan told an anti-inflation meeting.He admitted

South Korean stocks jumped 1.54 percent on Friday as investors were relieved by China’s not-so-bad economic data and optimistic about a further rebound, analysts said. The local currency gained ground against the U.S. dollar.The Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 27.5 points to finish at 1,812.89, snapping a five-day decline. The main bourse plunged more than 40 points during the previous session.Trading volume was moderate at 344.2 million shares worth 4.67 trillion won ($4.06 billion),