[DISCLOSURE] The Korea Development Bank announced on July 21 that it currently owns 8,133,990 shares of Hanjin Heavy Industries (097230). The shares account for 7.2 percent of the entire stock. KDB added that the announcement was made on plans for debt-equity swap and convertible bonds.

[THE INVESTOR] South Korean shares traded lower late morning on July 21, but pared part of earlier losses on a continued rise in Samsung Electronics, the country’s top market cap.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 1.88 points, or 0.09 percent, to 2,013.58 as of 11:20 a.m.Large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics adding 0.26 percent.Major chipmaker SK hynix rose 0.78 percent, and POSCO, the country’s leading steelmaker, dropped 1.37 percent.Naver, the opera

[DISCLOSURE] KT&G (033780) announced in a regulatory filing on July 21 that its operating profit in the second quarter rose 14.5 percent to 353.70 billion won (US$309.61 million) from the same period last year. Its revenue reached 1.08 trillion won and its net profit was 291.60 billion won, rising 5.4 percent and 11.9 percent on-year, respectively.

[DISCLOSURE] Taeyoung Engineering & Construction (009410) has received an 86.8 billion won (US$70.10 million) order to renovate knowledge industrial centers in Pyongchon, Gyeonggi Province, it announced on July 21. This amounts to 4.6 percent of its recent revenue. The construction period will last 24 months from initiation.

[THE INVESTOR] KOSPI opened higher at 2,019.36, up 3.90 points on July 21.

[THE INVESTOR] KOSDAQ opened higher at 708.70, up 3.67 points on July 21.

[THE INVESTOR] The Japanese yen opened at 1,066.11 won on July 21, down 8.54 won from the previous closing of 1,074.65 won.

[THE INVESTOR] The euro opened at 1,258.69 won on July 21, up 2.47 won from the previous closing of 1,256.22 won.

[THE INVESTOR] The US dollar opened higher at 1,142.5 won on July 21, up 1.5 won from the previous closing of 1,141.0 won.

[DISCLOSURE] JB Woori Capital, a subsidiary of JB Financial Group (175330), has received a request to turn 3.5 million convertible stocks into common stocks from SPC, a shareholder of the preferred stocks, it announced on July 20.The number of common stocks to be issued from the conversion will amount to 11.55 million and the total number of shares will be 77.044 million.

[DISCLOSURE] Hanwha Investment & Securities (003530) announced on July 20 that it has decided to increase capital by issuing forfeited shares through a public offering. The issue price is set to be 2,245 won per share and a total of 89,086,860 shares will be issued. The public offering subscriptions are scheduled for Sept. 19-20.

[THE INVESTOR] The Japanese yen ended at 1,074.65 won on July 20, up 3.02 won from the previous closing of 1,071.63 won.

[DISCLOSURE] Core Cross (038530) announced on July 20 that it will issue convertible bonds worth 2 billion won (US$1.74 million) for capital increase. Both the coupon rate and the rate of its yield to maturity stands at 9 percent and the conversion price is 978 won. The maturity date is July 20, 2019.