After achieving a strong earnings growth last year, biotech firm Avellino Labs is seeking to refocus on its pipeline with gene editing technology ahead of its planned market debut on South Korea’s secondary Kosdaq market. Unaudited financial results of the firm, born in Korea but now headquartered in the US, showed its sales shot up from $2.6 million in 2019 to $122 million in 2020 with a net income of $56 million, due to the exploding demand for its COVID-19 diagnostic testing se

Under the pandemic, ESG becomes crucial element in evaluating financial firms, but tools, criteria still incomplete

The National Pension Service, South Korea’s largest institutional investor, has gained nearly 2 trillion won ($1.79 billion) worth of profits after selling a 1.2 percent stake in top-cap Samsung Electronics over the past year and a half, data showed Sunday. According to DART, the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure board, the NPS’ stake has dropped to 9.99 percent, now owning some 596 million shares, by trading the tech giant’s common shares 738 times f

South Korean stocks are likely to maintain their upward momentum next week as expectations of estimate-beating first-quarter corporate earnings run high, although investors may be attempted to cash in recent gains.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 3,198.62 points on Friday, up 2.13 percent from a week before. The index gained for the five sessions since Monday, with brokerages predicting the index may stay above the 3,200-point threshold despite the increased val

South Korean shares advanced for the fifth day Friday, finishing just shy of the 3,200-point mark, as expectations of a global economic rebound and sound corporate earnings boosted investor sentiment. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 4.29 points, or 0.13 percent, to close at 3,198.62 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 961 million shares worth some 14.6 trillion won ($13.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering loser

South Korean asset management firm Mirae Asset Global Investments has launched two exchange-traded funds tracking the value of Bitcoin futures via its Canadian subsidiary Horizons ETFs. Along with the Bitcoin-based ETFs it also rolled out a fund investing in stocks in the battery, bitotechnology, internet, and gaming industries, often collectively referred to as the BBIG sectors. Of the newly launched cryptocurrency ETFs is an inverse product, called BetaPro Inverse Bitcoin ETF, which profi

Unionized workers at Citibank Korea voiced criticism against Citibank Korea’s decision to withdraw its retail banking operations, calling it unilateral. “(Citibank Korea’s labor union) can‘t accept Citigroup’s unilateral announcement. Since Bloomberg reported on the group’s possible divestiture plan in February, we have been preparing legal action and systematic countermeasures,” said Jin Chang-geun, head of the Citibank Korea labor union. “We&r

South Korean shares opened higher Friday, taking a cue from an overnight rally on Wall Street over strong signals of economic rebound. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 7.79 point, or 0.24 percent, to 3,202.12 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the S&P 500 gained 1.11 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.9 percent, both reaching all-time highs, as steep improvement in US jobs and sales data raised hopes of global economic rebound.

The cryptocurrency turnover in South Korea has more than doubled over the past month, a market tracker said Friday, as retail investors scramble to the virtual currency amid the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The combined turnover of 14 cryptocurrency exchanges in Asia's fourth-largest economy came to $21.63 billion as of 4 p.m. Thursday, according to CoinMarketCap. In particular, the top four exchanges -- Bithumb, Upbit, Corbit and Coinone -- had a combined turnover of $18.85 billion, o

South Korea’s top mobile messenger operator, Kakao, replaced Samsung Biologics as the No. 6 company on the Kospi in terms of market capitalization Thursday, a day after its stock split. Shares of Kakao, after a 5-for-1 stock split, jumped 7.59 percent to 120,500 won ($108.07) at the closing bell, lifting the company’s market cap to 53.48 trillion won. The price of Kakao stocks with lowered face value surged over 18 percent during intraday trading, before the bourse operator interru

South Korean stocks finished higher to extend their gains to a fifth session Thursday amid expectations that the economic recovery would be quicker and stronger than expected. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 11.95 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 3,194.33. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.3 billion shares worth some 17.4 trillion won ($15.6 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 468 to 375. Foreigners bought

The head of South Korea’s financial regulator said Thursday that he expects to see a greater inflow of foreign capital to the nation’s stock market with the reactivation of short selling activities next month. “Resumption of short-selling signifies that the market is going back to normalization and (I hope) foreigners to return to the market,” said Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo in an impromptu meeting with reporters. While the government is set to

Lender applies to register ‘Hana Payments’ as trademark

The amount of venture capital investments made in the South Korean market last year reached a record high of 4.3 trillion won ($3.8 billion), according to state-owned Korea Development Bank on Thursday. The startup industry has seen an increasing inflow of capital in recent years. The amount of venture investment pumped into the startup market came in at 3.4 trillion won in 2018 and 4.2 trillion won in 2019. The startup segment is expected to gain further momentum thanks to the government&rsq

South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Thursday amid lingering concerns over the pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 1.22 point, or 0.04 percent, to 3,183.6 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks came off to a muted start after South Korean health authorities said the country may need stronger social distancing measures if daily COVID-19 cases remain high throughout the rest of the week. The country added 731 new cases Wednesday, the highest sinc