K bank, South Korea’s first internet-only bank, saw its third-quarter earnings surge 115 percent from the previous quarter on the growing number of customers and amount of money deposited, officials said Tuesday. It was the first time the bank posted a net profit for two quarters in a row since its inception in 2017. It posted its first quarterly profit of 3.9 billion won ($3.32 million) three months ago, marking a sharp turnaround from a deficit of 12.3 billion won in the first quarter.

Blockchain and information technology consulting firm Baobab Partners will launch a nonfungible token marketplace on Thursday, the firm said Tuesday. The platform, named Baobab NFT, can be accessed through the firm’s blockchain portal and website at bao-bab.co.kr. Through the marketplace, Ethereum- and Klaytn-based NFTs can be issued, sold and purchased with crypto and NFT wallets MetaMask and Kaikas. Klaytn is Korea’s No. 1 mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp.’s global bloc

South Korean midcap buyout fund VIG Partners said Monday it has selected domestic private equity firm Stonebridge Capital as the preferred bidder to sell its stake in massage chair company Bodyfriend. The selling price will be announced when the proposed buyer and seller sign a binding deal by the end of this year, according to VIG Partners. VIG Partners said in a statement the deal will prompt the fund house’s exit from the portfolio companies for its second flagship blind pool fund, c

Keppel Investment Management, the South Korean arm of Singapore-based real estate investor Keppel Capital Holdings, has purchased Sheraton Seoul D Cube for 131.7 billion won ($117.9 million) to embark on a redevelopment project to turn the hotel into a commercial office building. In the latest indication that luxury hotels in Seoul are increasingly losing their luster, Sheraton Seoul D Cube, located in Guro-gu, western Seoul, shut down Sunday after opening in 2011, according to the hotel franch

Shinhan Financial Group said Monday that it has signed a deal to acquire BNP Paribas Cardif’s non-life-insurance subsidiary in South Korea in a bid to diversify its business portfolio to include the digital insurance sector. Through the share purchase agreement inked Friday, the Korean banking group will hold a 94.54 percent stake in BNP Paribas Cardif General Insurance, a firm that BNP Paribas Cardif and Shinhan Life jointly established in 2014. The transaction price was not disclosed,

  South Korea’s financial authorities have called on local banks to take action to ensure a stable supply of credit loans and tighter supervision of household debts, officials said Sunday.  The policymaking Financial Services Commission and the market watchdog Financial Supervisory Service reportedly advised the nation’s commercial banks to submit the action plans, which can be either monthly or quarterly, for personal unsecured loans. The authorities also ur

South Korean gaming firm Krafton has inked a deal to acquire 100 percent ownership of US video game developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment for $750 million, in the first takeover deal it has announced since the company went public in August, a filing showed Sunday. According to the disclosure filed with the Financial Supervisory Service, Krafton, a Tencent Holdings-backed company behind the battle-royale style PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds franchise, signed a sales and purchase agreement

Private Debt Investor, a publication covering the global private debt investing scene, said Sunday it plans to hold a virtual investor event in November and feature post-pandemic strategies of Korea’s sole sovereign wealth fund, Korea Investment Corp. During the event, named PDI Japan Korea Week, Choi Jin-suk, senior director of investment strategy group at KIC, will share the allocator’s key considerations when applying its environmental, social and governance factors in private de

A local court granted an injunction request by South Korean buyout firm Hahn & Co. to block Namyang Dairy Products Chairman Hong Won-sik from exercising his voting rights, noting that a sales and purchase agreement between the two parties is valid, according to a recent ruling obtained by The Korea Herald Thursday. The court’s decision indicated that Hong and his family members had failed to present evidence of Hahn & Co.’s breach of nondisclosure agreement, unlawful interv

We are honored to receive the 2021 Korea Herald Advertising Awards with our “Appropriate Digital Asset Investment Campaign” by the Upbit Investor Protection Center. The Appropriate Digital Asset Investment Campaign is very meaningful in that it is the first official activity of the tentatively named, upcoming Upbit Investor Protection Center and the industry’s first mass campaign efforts to enhance self-purification. As a leader in the digital asset market, Dunamu has put va

South Korea’s top financial regulator on Tuesday said it will implement stricter lending calculations for mortgage loans, called the “debt-service ratio,” or DSR, months earlier than expected as part of additional debt control measures.  The DSR gauges how much borrowers pay for principal and interest in proportion to yearly income.  Since July, a 40 percent DSR has been applied to borrowers seeking to receive loans for buying properties valued at over 600 million w

The Korea Teachers’ Credit Union, an institutional investor responsible for 40 trillion won ($34.3 billion) of assets as of end-June, denied Tuesday rumors that it was considering exposure to bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, through an exchange-traded fund created by a Korean external partner. “The KTCU has never reviewed an investment in a bitcoin-related ETF, and will never have a plan to do so,” KTCU said in a statement. The remark came after it was rep

IMM Private Equity said Monday it has signed a binding term to become the largest shareholder of South Korean kitchen and interior furniture goods manufacturer Hanssem in a 1.45 trillion won ($1.24 billion) deal. Under a sales and purchase agreement, the third-largest buyout firm based in Seoul, with $5.4 billion in assets under management, will buy 6.5 million ordinary shares -- or 27.7 percent of voting rights -- owned by sellers comprising founder Cho Chang-gul and his seven specially a

Bank stocks in South Korea have long been regarded as an unappealing option for investors, but analysts say it may be their time to shine as the economy makes progress toward normalization and interest rates are no longer at record lows. The country’s big four banking groups -- KB Financial, Hana Financial, Shinhan Financial and Woori Financial -- are expected to see their combined profits grow by double digits in the quarter that ended in September, according to FnGuide, a financial inf

Edison, KDB make contrasting remarks over asset-backed financing to normalize ailing SUV maker