[THE INVESTOR] China’s Great Rich Technologies got approval on Oct. 24 from the Korea Exchange to list on South Korea’s secondary KOSDAQ market. The stock trading will kick off on Oct. 25 with the initial offering price of 5,000 won (US$4.41). Korea Exchange headquartersEstablished in 2012, Hong Kong-based Great Rich Technologies is a holding company of its subsidiary that manufactures optical and protective film. GRT posted a net profit of 164.5 billion won (US$144.9 million) and a sale of 35 b

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s major air carriers Korean Air Lines, Asiana Airlines and Jeju Air are expected to beat earnings estimates in the third quarter thanks to rising air traffic and low oil prices, a local brokerage said on Oct. 24. According to Samsung Securities, the combined revenue and operating profit of the three air carriers are likely to increase 7.4 percent and 59 percent to log 5 trillion won (US$4.47 billion) and 597.1 billion won, respectively, in the July-September period. An

[THE INVESTOR] France’s state-run shipyard DCNS is mulling a bid to acquire STX France, the French unit of South Korea’s troubled shipyard STX Offshore & Shipbuilding which is under court receivership, according to industry sources on Oct. 21. Since the Korean bankruptcy court announced on Oct. 19 that it would sell its entire stake in STX Shipbuilding and a 66.7 percent stake in STX France, speculation has been rising about potential bidders, including DCNS. The price of the package deal is est

[THE INVESTOR] Englewood Lab shares soared more than 65 percent above their initial public offering price on Oct. 20 after its stock market debut on South Korea’s secondary KOSDAQ last week. Shares in the US cosmetics ingredient manufacture climbed 21.69 percent to close at 9,930 won (US$8.81), against their 6,000 won initial sale price. This is in stark contrast to its first day on the stock market when the share price tumbled 12.68 percent. Established in 2004, the ODM company has provided ski

[THE INVESTOR] French naval contractor DCNS is considering making a bid for STX France, a unit of South Korea’s bankrupted shipbuilding group, a local media outlet reported on Oct. 20. According to the Korea Economic Daily, the French firm discussed a possible acquisition of STX France’ stake, owned by STX Offshore & Shipbuilding which filed for receivership in May. DCNS could not be reached for comment. On Oct. 19, the South Korean bankruptcy court that oversees the ship year’s receivership off

[THE INVESTOR] Total accumulated exports of Celltrion’s Remsima, a biosimilar version of Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade, have exceeded 1 trillion won (US$890 million), the South Korean drug maker’s overseas marketing affiliate Celltrion Healthcare said on Oct. 19. It took four years for Celltrion to reach the figure since the pharmaceutical firm shipped the first batch of its rheumatoid arthritis treatment drug Remsima in 2012. “The exports of Remsima are expected to rise at a faster clip if the d

[THE INVESTOR] The planned initial public offering of Samsung BioLogics could value the firm at up to 10.5 trillion won (US$9.34 billion), exceeding the upper end of the price band, a local securities company said on Oct. 19. “Given that the market for biopharma contract manufacturing organizations is rapidly growing and its first and second plants have won sufficient orders until 2022, Samsung BioLogics will be able to reach the upper end of the price range,” said Kim Tae-hee, an analyst at Hyu

[THE INVESTOR] LG Chem, South Korea’s top chemicals firm, reported a 15.6 percent fall in quarterly operating profit and slowing sales due to the local currency’s increase compared to the U.S. dollar and seasonal factors, the company said in a regulatory filing on Oct. 18. The company logged an operating profit of 460.91 billion won (US$407.10 million) in the third quarter ended on Sept. 30. Its revenue decreased 2.4 percent to 5.54 trillion won from a year earlier.Source : LG Chem to post Q3, 2

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s three largest pharmaceutical companies are expected to report double-digit percentage fall in operating profit in the third quarter as they beef up spending on research and development, data showed on Oct. 18. The operating profit of Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Yuhan and Green Cross are estimated to have plunged between 11 to 60 percent in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a year ago, according to market data provider FnGuide. Hanmi is forecast to see the largest d

[THE INVESTOR] Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, an Israeli genetic drug maker, plans to commercialize two oncology biosimilar candidates developed by South Korean firm Celltrion before 2020 in the US and Canada. Earlier this month, Teva has sealed an exclusive rights deal to commercialize Celltrion’s phase III biosimilar candidates -- CT-P10 and CT-P6 -- and the Korean firm planning to request permits from the US and Canada in 2017.“We expect both products to be within the initial wave of biosimi

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics (“A1” stable) announced on Oct. 11 that it would cease production and was recalling its latest smartphone, the Galaxy Note 7, because of faulty batteries that were causing handsets to burst into flames. The production halt and associated product recall are credit negative, but we expect Samsung’s strong financial profile to continue to support its “A1” rating and stable outlook. Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 7 in mid-August and announced a recall in Septembe

[THE INVESTOR] South Korean chemicals firm LG Chem said Sunday that it will drive up production of its high-end specialty chemicals in preparation for increasing competition in the global petrochemicals market.　LG Chem’s specialty chemical acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. LG ChemLG Chem plans to double its sales of specialty chemicals such as its self-developed polyolefin products, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and engineering plastics to 7 trillion won ($6.2 billion) by 2020.The chemicals fir