Despite better-than-expected performance in the first quarter, South Korea’s major listed firms are likely to see their earnings dip due to the prolonged export slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a local financial market tracker said Sunday. The combined operating profit of 138 listed companies is estimated at 19.97 trillion won ($16.3 billion) for the April-June period this year, down 2.34 trillion won, or 10.5 percent, from a year earlier, according to data compiled by FN Guide

Commercial real estate service firm Cushman & Wakefield said Sunday it was looking to introduce a social distancing office design concept to help its clients reopen their workplace and embrace the new norm in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The concept -- dubbed “Six Feet Office” -- was unveiled as the stay-at-home restrictions has been showing signs of imminent alleviation. Ranging from creating visual boundaries using colored carpets and plexiglass shields to office signa

South Korean major oil refiners suffered one of their worst quarters in the January-March period, data showed Sunday, as global oil output has far outpaced demand amid the new coronavirus pandemic. S-Oil Corp., the no. 3 oil refiner in South Korea, swung to a record loss of 1 trillion won ($816 million) in the first quarter due to inventory losses and falling refining margins. The loss was roughly 50 percent higher than earlier expectations. Another refiner, Hyundai Oilbank Co., reported an

South Korea’s securities exchange operator, the Korea Exchange, said Wednesday that it had removed a market cap limit on the nation’s main bourse, Kospi, lifting a regulatory rule meant to prevent excessive reliance on a single stock. The 30 percent market cap rule requires securities funds, including exchange-traded funds, to reduce their holdings in stocks that account for more than 30 percent of the market value of the Kospi 200 and KRX 300 indexes. The regulation was introduced

South Korean public firms' debt rose by the largest amount ever last year amid an economic slowdown, with their debt-to-capital ratio rebounding for the first time in seven years, the finance ministry said Wednesday. The combined debt of 337 public institutions reached 525.1 trillion won ($430.9 billion) at the end of last year, up 21.4 trillion won from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The tally did not include data by three state-run banks, including Kor

South Korea’s trade balance in April could swing to its first deficit in 99 months due to an exports slump amid the global coronavirus pandemic, according to officials on Wednesday. “It is a bit early to predict, but the chances are high that April’s trade balance will see a deficit, (which marks the first time) in 99 months since January 2012,” said Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom during a press briefing. “A drop in exports was much bigger than that of imp

Government hurriedly takes follow-up fiscal measures after initial program’s bottleneck

Shared working space platform WeWork said Wednesday that it had opened a 20th location in South Korea. The location in Apro Square, WeWork Shinnonhyeon, is the 12th in Seoul’s affluent Gangnam area, according to WeWork’s Korean unit. The news came over a year after its announcement in March 2019. This is the first location opened since WeWork Korea named Patricia Chun as its new general manager earlier in April. “We have strong belief in Korea as we see the growing demand f

South Korean stocks ended higher for a third straight session Wednesday as investor sentiment was buoyed by expectations about robust earnings by US tech firms. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 13.47 points, or 0.70 percent, to close at 1,947.56. Trade volume was moderate at 1.97 billion shares worth 10.4 trillion won ($8.5 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 570 to 272. Investors await further earnings results fr

Psomagen, a US company dedicated to genome sequencing technology and DNA testing, said Wednesday it looks to raise at least 57.5 billion won ($47.2 million) in an initial public offering on the Korean bourse. Under the plan to be listed on Kosdaq, Psomagen seeks to issue 4.2 million new common shares, amounting to a 25 percent stake, and offer them to investors in an IPO set to take place in May. Shinhan Investment is an underwriter of the IPO deal. The IPO proceeds will be used to boost its

Demand for Korea’s COVID-19 response experience on rise, but patent rights of homegrown technology must be protected, says commissioner

Consumer financing firms in South Korea saw their combined net profit gain 5.7 percent in 2019 from a year earlier on the back of a robust gain in interest income, data showed Wednesday. The combined net profit of 107 credit financial firms stood at 2.05 trillion won ($1.68 billion) in 2019, up 111.2 billion won from a year earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Their interest income rose 6.7 percent on-year to 5.66 trillion won in 2019, the data showed.

The issuance of asset-backed securities (ABS) in South Korea surged in the first quarter from a year earlier due mainly to a hike in sales of mortgage-backed securities, the financial watchdog said Wednesday. A combined 22.7 trillion won ($18.5 billion) worth of ABS was issued in the January-March period, up 12.9 trillion won from the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). ABS are backed by underlying assets, such as auto loans, home loans, credit card receivable

The Bank of Korea (BOK) has signed an agreement with major local retailers to further expand its pilot program to go coinless, the bank said Wednesday. Under the memorandum of understanding, signed Tuesday, convenience store chains E-Mart 24 and Ministop will now deposit any change left from cash purchases directly to customers' bank accounts when requested, according to the BOK. The agreement adds more than 7,000 convenience stores to the list of places where such services are available, alo

South Korean stocks opened almost unchanged Tuesday on overnight losses in Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) inched up 2.18 points, or 0.11 percent, to 1,936.27 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Tuesday (local time), US stocks gave up earlier gains to end lower on tech losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.13 percent, the S&P 500 was down 0.52 percent, and the Nasdaq composite index decreased 1.4 percent. Most large-cap shares on the Seou