[THE INVESTOR] Ailing shipyard Samsung Heavy Industries posted an operating loss of 283.7 billion won (US$253.18) in the April-June period, mainly because of workforce restructuring costs, the company said in its quarterly earnings report on July 29. The fall, however, is an improvement from 1.54 trillion won loss a year earlier, up by 81.7 percent. Samsung Heavy Industries' shipyard.For the second quarter, the Samsung affiliate logged net loss of 212.4 billion won, narrowing the loss from 1.15

[THE INVESTOR] Hanhwa Techwin announced on July 29 that it will acquire 13.5 million shares of France’s Thales International in its affiliate Hanwha Thales for 288 billion won (US$253.95 million). The due date for acquisition is Nov. 23, making it the sole owner. The French defense giant has decided to sell its 50 percent stake in the defense electronics joint venture Hanwha Group acquired from Samsung last year. Hanwha Techwin, an aircraft engine manufacturer, and Hanwha Thales are two of the f

[THE INVESTOR] The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning on July 29 named Lotte World Adventure as the developer of its virtual reality theme park development program. Lotte World Adventure.The program is part of the government’s Virtual Reality Flagship Project that aims to develop virtual reality technologies ahead of international competitors. Along with a theme park that uses VR technologies, the government hopes to develop games, entertainment, education and other businesses that use

[THE INVESTOR] SK Networks, SK Group’s trading and retail arm, said on July 29 that its consolidated second quarter revenue and operating profits fell 9.7 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively, from a year ago. In a regulatory filing, the company said that its preliminary second quarter sales came to about 4.66 trillion won (US$4.15 billion), while operating profit came to 35.3 billion won. The company attributed the drop to falling oil and raw materials prices.The company said that the drop in

[THE INVESTOR] SK Group vice chairman Chey Jae-won was released from prison on parole on July 29. Chey was imprisoned along with his brother SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won in February 2014 for embezzling 45 billion won (US$40 million) from the company. "The economy is struggling, and (I) will add (my) small effort to revive the economy and creating jobs," Chey said. SK Group Chey Jae-won bows as he is released on parole on July 29.  Chey was imprisoned along with his brother SK Group chairman Ch

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Engineering, South Korea’s largest builder of engineering projects, posted on July 28 an 82.6 percent fall in second-quarter operating profit, struggling to recover from last year’s slump even after clearing off massive losses led by reverses in the Middle East. The plant engineering unit of Samsung Group narrowly avoided losses in the April-June period by posting 3.5 billion won (US$3.10 million) in operating profit and 2.3 billion won in net profit, up 44 percent on-year

[THE INVESTOR] The number of corporations established during the first half of the year came to a new half-year record, the Small and Medium Business Administration said on July 28.According to the SMBA, 48,263 new companies were established during the first six months of the year, rising 4 percent from a year ago to set a new record. Retail and wholesale businesses were the most numerous at 11,168, accounting for 23.1 percent of the total, followed by manufacturing and construction businesses.

[THE INVESTOR] Peter Thiel, the early investor in Facebook and PayPal, has recently decided to invest 37.5 billion won (US$33 million) in Hanmi Semiconductor, a Korean semiconductor equipment manufacturer. The plan comes after his first investment worth 37 billion won in the company back in 2013. Peter ThielAccording to the Korean firm on July 27, it will sell 2.5 million treasury shares at 15,000 won per share on Sept. 23. Thiel-backed Crescendo Equity Partners and CEP Semicon Holdings will pur

[THE INVESTOR] Thales, the French defense giant, has decided to sell its 50 percent stake in Hanwha Thales, a defense electronics joint venture that Hanwha Group acquired from Samsung Group as part of a 1.9 trillion won (US$1.7 billion) deal in 2014. Thales had long considered selling off the stake since the Samsung-Hanwha deal was announced. According to industry sources, the company saw little benefits from working with the new partner as it had already enjoyed hefty dividends from the venture