South Korea's carmaking giant Hyundai Motor Group said Friday no decision has been made yet over whether it will buy a 20-percent stake in its auto finance unit, Hyundai Capital, from its U.S. partner, General Electric Co.GE acquired a 43.3-percent stake in Hyundai Capital from Hyundai Motor Group for 620 billion won ($535 million) in 2004.Last year, the U.S. company sold 20.1-percent and 3.2-percent stakes in Hyundai Capital to Kia Motors and Hyundai Motor -- the flagship units of Hyundai Motor

The gap in the operating profit margins of South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. and its U.S. rival Apple Inc. is estimated to have further narrowed to single-digit percentage points in the second quarter of this year, market data suggested Friday.Samsung Electronics estimated Thursday that its sales reached 50 trillion won ($43.2 billion), with 8.1 trillion won in operating profits, in the April-June period, posting 16.2 percent in operating profit margin.The ratio of operating profit

South Korea's finance minister on Friday pledged that the authorities will manage the country's foreign exchange reserve in a stable way to overcome the current exogenous headwinds stemming from the recent British vote to exit the European Union, or Brexit."To deal with rising financial uncertainties, we have to establish a firm safety valve," Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said in a minister-level meeting in Seoul. "The economic authorities will work to manage foreign exchange reserves in a stable

[THE INVESTOR] Sampyo, South Korea’s No. 2 ready-mixed concrete manufacture, plans to get listed to recoup its investment on the acquisition of Tong Yang Cement last year, sources said on July 8. “We are considering an initial public offering to improve our financial health in the long term as economic conditions in the construction industry are projected to deteriorate,” an official at Sampyo said.  SampyoAccording to investment bank officials, Sampyo sent out a request for proposals to brokera

[THE INVESTOR] LG Household and Health Care shares closed at a record high of 1.181 million won (US$ 1,023) on July 7.With this rise, up 2.2 percent from the previous day, LG Household shares rose for the ninth consecutive trading day. The latest increase pushed up the company’s market capitalization to over 18.44 trillion won, placing it in 10th place on the benchmark KOSPI.The rise is thought to be fueled by LG Household’s stable base in China and steady performance. By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@he

Korean stocks closed significantly higher Thursday, clearly rebounding from a dip on the previous day on an earnings surprise from tech giant Samsung Electronics. The local currency also advanced against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index spiked 20.96 points, or 1.07 percent, to 1,974.08. Trade volume was moderate at 374.6 million shares, worth 3.87 trillion won ($3.35 billion). Gainers outnumbered losers 607 to 208. The sharp rise came one day after foreign investor

The tycoons of Korea’s top 10 family-run conglomerates, or chaebol, control their empire with less than 1 percent of equity stake ownership, but are backed by a record-high level of intragroup shareholdings, the nation’s antitrust agency said Thursday. According to the Fair Trade Commission, “owners” of the country’s top 10 chaebol groups hold an average 0.9 percent of their group’s total shares as of April 1, unchanged from last year, but down from 2.9 percent in 1998. Their relatives currently

[THE INVESTOR] The Korea Development Bank, a state-owned policy bank, said on July 7 that it has started investing in China’s onshore stock markets as a renminbi qualified foreign institutional investor. The KDB plans to put some 1 billion yuan of funds into securities and bonds listed on Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchange as well as China’s interbank bond market. The Korea Development Bank“As a policy bank representing Korea, we will play a major role in the financial cooperation between the

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s National Pension Service has named seven private equity firms to run 200 billion won ($172 million) of its funds, the pension giant said on Thursday. The NPS, which oversees $430 billion in assets, hired Aju IB Investment and KTB Network as general manager of the venture fund. Five others including Medici Investment, Seoul Investment Partners, Wonik Investment Partners, Innopolis Partners and G.N.Tech Venture Capital were named as preliminary mangers. “Through the ve

[THE INVESTOR] The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is expected to start searching for a replacement for Hong Kyttack, one of its chief risk officers, as soon as the bank president Jin Liqun returns from an overseas business trip this month. Hong had been serving as chief risk officer for just a few months before he came under fire in Korea for exposing the inadequacy of state-run Korea Development Bank, at which he had previously served as president. AIIB was not available for comment. Ther

[THE INVESTOR] The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is expected to start searching for a replacement for Hong Kyttack, one of its chief risk officers, as soon as the bank president Jin Liqun returns from an overseas business trip this month. Hong had been serving as chief risk officer for just a few months before he came under fire in Korea for exposing the inadequacy of state-run Korea Development Bank, at which he had previously served as president. AIIB was not available for comment. Hong

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Venture Investment is one of this year’s top five strategic investors funding start-ups in terms of investment volume, the company said on July 7.“We are in the top bracket, and have been there for several years now,” said Kim Young-min, a spokesperson for the firm. He added that the specific amount or recipients of the funding could not be revealed, other than those that have already been released to the media. Samsung Venture Investment‘s main function is to invest in st

[THE INVESTOR] South Korean companies investing in venture companies will be given tax credits, as part of the government’s measures for boosting investment revealed on July 7. According to the plans, local companies that directly invest in ventures, or place money in investment funds specializing in venture companies will be given tax credits on 5 percent of the funds involved. The measure, which will apply to local companies and financial institutions, will be established during the final quar

[THE INVESTOR] The value of daily share trading on the Korean stock market has significantly declined in July as market volatility has spiked in recent weeks due to the UK’s decision to leave the European Union, following an upward trend during the second quarter this year, according to the local bourse operator Korea Exchange on July 7.Average daily trading value of the benchmark KOSPI and the tech-heavy KOSDAQ stood at 8.46 trillion won (US$7.3 billion) during the first six days of July, down