South Korean online lender Kakao Bank said Wednesday its net profit jumped 21 percent from a year earlier in the third quarter, helped by higher interest income. Third-quarter net profit came to 94.5 billion won ($72.7 million), up 21.2 percent from a year earlier, Kakao Bank said in a regulatory filing. Revenue surged 59.4 percent on-year to 656.6 billion won, with operating income growing 21.9 percent on-year to 127.5 billion won, it said. In the first nine months of the year, Kakao Bank said

Hahn & Co., one of the largest private equity firms in Korea, announced Tuesday it had signed a definitive agreement with SKC, a semiconductor material arm under SK Group, to acquire its fine ceramics business for 360 billion won ($267 million). The company said SKC is a major player in the semiconductor industry with its fine ceramics business producing high-purity quartz and silicon carbide consumable materials crucial for manufacturing advanced chips. “SKC’s fine ceramics busi

South Korean brokerage house Korea Investment & Securities has partnered with global private equity firm Carlyle Group, seeking to globalize its investment portfolio. The Korean firm said Monday it signed a strategic partnership with Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm with $385 billion of assets under management as of June. Korea Investment & Securities CEO Jung Il-moon and Harvey Schwartz, CEO of Carlyle Group, attended a signing ceremony held Friday in Seoul. Through the par

Shihan Finance, Shinhan Card’s subsidiary in Kazakhstan, has secured a $60 million investment from the International Finance Corporation, the Korean car issuers under Shinhan Financial Group said Wednesday. The latest funding is the first of its kind announced since Shinhan Financial Group and the IFC signed a memorandum of understanding in May this year to cooperate in environmental, social and governance projects. Of the $60 million, some $20 million will be used first to fund the compan

Hyundai Motor Co. said Wednesday it has partnered with the International Union for Conservation of Nature for a forest restoration project in Vietnam. The company's Vietnamese joint venture HTV and the IUCN, along with Seoul-based development non-governmental organization Good Neighbors International, signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday for the mangrove tree forest project in Ca Mau province in Vietnam's Mekong Delta region. Through the partnership, Hyundai will plant mangrove

Korean Air Co. has decided to retain workers of Asiana Airlines Inc. on condition that Asiana agrees to sell its cargo business to win antitrust approval from European Union regulators for the two carriers' merger, industry sources said Monday. According to the sources, Korean Air, the larger of South Korea's two full-service airlines, plans to seek approval for the decision to retain Asiana Airlines' workers at a company board meeting scheduled next Monday. The decision comes as

Mirae Asset Financial Group announced a massive reshuffle at the executive level on Monday, signaling a generational shift in leadership as its founding members are to step down. Mirae Asset Securities CEO and Chairman Choi Hyun-man, the group’s No. 2 man, will leave the firm 26 years after he co-founded the group together with Group Chairman Park Hyeon-joo back in 1997. Having served top posts at key affiliates, Choi was named the chairman of the brokerage firm in December 2021. Along wit

Mirae Asset Securities, Korea's largest investment bank and securities firm, said it plans to initiate a share buyback program worth 60.2 billion won ($44 million) in an effort to boost shareholders’ value, the firm said Wednesday. The firm will repurchase its 10 million shares, which is equivalent to some 2.1 percent of the market cap, over a three-month period from Thursday to Jan. 18 through intraday trading. The firm’s market cap stands at 3.83 trillion won as of Thursday.

The management and labor union of Kia Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, have reached a tentative wage deal to avoid a partial strike, according to the company Tuesday. The agreement was reached after unionized workers of Hyundai Motor Co. voted last month to accept this year's wage deal, averting a strike for the fifth consecutive year. Unionized workers of Kia had planned to go on a partial strike from this week unless it reached a wage deal. The union plans to vote wheth

The labor union of Kia Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, said Sunday it has failed to settle wage talks with the company again, raising the possibility of it staging a partial strike starting later this week. Unless the two sides resume negotiations and reach an agreement by Tuesday, the union is expected to go on an eight-hour strike from Tuesday to Thursday and a 12-hour walkout on Oct. 20 as planned. The move by Kia's union came as unionized workers of Hyundai Motor Co.

LG Chem Ltd. and GS Caltex Corp. plan to produce a prototype of a material for biodegradable plastics next year, as they step up cooperation for the development of the eco-friendly raw material, the companies said Friday. LG Chem and GS Caltex signed an agreement in 2021 to develop technology for the production of the material called 3-Hydroxypropionic Acid (3HP). Plastic made from 3HP can be used to replace various disposable materials. In July of last year, they started construction on a plant

Large South Korean firms' ability to service their debts worsened sharply in the first half of 2023 amid falling profits and soaring interest costs, a corporate tracker said Tuesday. The interest coverage ratio for 347 out of the country's top 500 companies by sales averaged 1.16 as of end-June, down 74 percent from 4.42 a year earlier, according to the Leaders Index. The ratio is obtained by dividing a company's operating profit by its interest expenses. A reading below 1 means t

Leading South Korean companies are keeping close tabs on the potential business fallout from the escalating conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, industry sources said Monday, though no damage has yet been reported among firms operating in the Middle Eastern country. According to industry officials, Samsung Electronics has initiated a remote work scheme for their employees in the country and are regularly checking the safety of their workers. Samsung runs a research and

  Korean Air has canceled its flights from Incheon to Tel Aviv this week amid safety concerns over the escalating conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, according to company officials Monday. South Korea's leading air carrier has canceled all three KE957 flights from Incheon to Tel Aviv, which run regularly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, for the week. The company, however, has kept in place the returning KE958 flights, which transport passengers from Tel Aviv to

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo highlighted the importance of sustainable financing during his meeting with the Dutch ambassador for sustainable development in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday. The Hana chief met with Ambassador Rene van Hell as part of his visit to Europe to meet with global investors. According to Hana, Ham and van Hell agreed on the need for "green financing" to transition to a decarbonized economy, in particular cutting down on carbon emissions in asset p