[THE INVESTOR] Line, the Japan-based mobile chatting app unit of Naver, has been the crown jewel of South Korea’s largest internet portal for several reasons. Line helped Naver to gain a foothold in overseas markets through its popularity in Asian countries. The firm’s revenue currently accounts for one-third of Naver’s outstanding sales. According to Line’s initial public offering filing, which aims to raise about $3 billion in a dual Tokyo-New York listing set for July, the company will look t

[THE INVESTOR] “Everyone, work your servers. You get to be their boss tonight. And isn‘t that a good feeling?”With those words from John Schuldt, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, the 12th CEO Servers’ Night at the Conrad Hotel in Seoul began on Friday. Hosted annually by the Partners for the Future Foundation, the event has the chief executives of AMCHAM member companies don white aprons to wait on family and friends and raise funds for scholarships for underprivileged stu

Britain’s departure from the European Union is drawing mixed reactions here, with local experts offering dim prospects for Korean exporters but some others viewing the historic change as an opportunity for the world’s seventh-largest exporter to outpace its rivals in the overall European market. Amid growing concerns, the Korean government said Sunday it would prepare for separate trade talks with the EU and Great Britain. In 2009, South Korea and the EU signed a bilateral free trade agreement,

[THE INVESTOR] Amid a looming crisis, Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin on Saturday successfully fended off his brother’s challenge to the throne he seized last year, but he faces bigger threats at home with the prosecution’s investigation closing in on him.In support of the employees’ association that holds nearly one third of stakes in Lotte Holdings, a Tokyo-based company that controls Lotte’s operation in Korea, Shin once again cemented his leadership against repeated attempts by his elder

[THE INVESTOR] The British pound has fallen, along with the euro, Chinese yuan and not to mention the Korean won, while the dollar and Japanese yen strengthened following the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union.The won-dollar exchange opened with a decrease of 0.2 won at 1,150 won last Friday, but climbed almost 30 won closing at 1,179.9 won as the British voted in favor of exiting the Union, while the KOSPI lost more than 3 percent.Analysts forecast the won-dollar exchange to touch as high

[THE INVESTOR] The “Leave” outcome in the U.K. is expected to further overshadow the prospects of the Korean economy, which is already faced with a slew of negative outlooks on employment, inflation and exports, analysts say.An exit from the European Union is likely to slow Korean exports to its free trading partner, as Korea and the U.K., as well as the EU, will have to renegotiate the terms of their trade pacts and tariffs separately, now that the world’s fifth-largest economy will have to sta

[THE INVESTOR] Hana Financial Investment maintained its buy rating and price target of 31,000 won on LG Display based on expectations for improvement in the firm’s earnings in the second half of this year. “The company is expected to see its operating profit surge to 600.4 billion won (US$519.3 million) to reflect a 942 percent increase from the first half,” said Lee won-sik, an analyst at Hana Financial. He estimated the displaymaker‘s annual operating income to reach 658 billion won to beat th

[THE INVESTOR] Korea Federation of Banks chairman Ha Yung-ku called on the government to relax regulations on selling insurance product through banks for the development of financial industry and consumer convenience. “Various problems occur due to the lack of progress in improving bancassurance-related regulations,” Ha said at a seminar held in Seoul to evaluate bancassurance policies on June 23. Bancassurance is an arrangement under which banks and insurers form a partnership to allow the insu

[THE INVESTOR] Korea Exchange plans to revamp its commission fee structure, the country’s bourse operator said on June 23. KRX will hire an external agency to examine its current commission rate and standards on the imposition of fees and compare it with other major stock exchanges worldwide.The decision comes as the country’s stock market faces an industrial transition as the exchange seeks to transform itself as a holding firm and financial authority pushes to adopt alternative trading system

[THE INVESTOR] NH Investment & Securities has carried out a reshuffle to strengthen its hedge fund division, the firm said on June 22. With the reorganization, the number of subdivisions of the hedge fund division have been expanded from two to four. Of the four, Hedge Fund Management 1 will be responsible for financial instruments for relatively short-term investment such as equities, future and stock options while Hedge Fund Management 2 will manage mezzanine and private equity funds.  HH Inve

[THE INVESTOR] Major Korean institutional investors have invested some 800 billion won (US$ 689 million) in one of the biggest private equity-style infrastructure vehicles.Six large institutions including Teachers’ Pension and Public Officials Benefit Association have committed to the new global infrastructure fund by Brookfield Asset Management, a Toronto-based asset manager. The move comes as investors allocate more to the asset class amid low fixed-income yields. “Institutions which seek to f

Strategy briefing• Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) last week announced new measures for the nation’s corporate designation system, with the key revision changing the definition of a “large” company from one with assets of KRW5t or more to KRW10t or more, which will likely affect 37 domestic firms (including 20 listed ones).• The amendments—except those governing profit-taking by majority stakeholders of chaebol (eg, from intra-group transactions) and select firms subject to obligatory disclo

 Firms with robust top-line growth generally command high valuation multiples, but often see shares plunge if sales stall or profitability deteriorates, and even if such adversity is overcome, shares can rebound sharply even if valuation multiples do not. We focus on stocks with low price-to-sales ratios (P/S)—overly punished for flaws—that boast solid top-line growth and thus provide investment opportunities.Firms with robust top-line growth generally command high valuation multiples, but often

China’s import growth recovered to 0% in May, which we attribute to a sharp increase in commodity imports. We think China’s rapid urbanization and eased inventory burden indicate that its commodity imports may  continue to increase, albeit at a slower pace than in May, which should help stabilize commodity prices and have a positive impact on EMs. While we think recovery in Korea’s exports to China is unlikely, in light of China’s policy shift away from the processing trade, Korea’s exports to E

 2Q operating profit estimated at W1.69tr (-3.2% YoY)Hyundai Motor is expected to post 2Q16 sales of W23.6tr (+3.2% YoY) and operating profit of W1.69tr (-3.2% YoY, 7.2% margin). Domestic sales amounted to 120,000 units (+2% YoY) through May, but total domestic shipments came in at 300,000 units (-8% YoY) as exports went down 13% YoY 180,000 units.Domestic shipments, however, improved markedly from 1Q16 when there were concerns over capacity utilization rates. Domestic plant shipments stood at 2

Talks with global advertising agencies end without any agreementDiscussions on cooperation between Cheil Worldwide’s major shareholders and global ad agencies ended without any agreement, according to the Data Analysis, Retrieval and Transfer (DART) System of the Financial Supervisory Service. Publicis and Samsung ended talks for the acquisition of Cheil Worldwide. The company also said that no talks are underway with a third party on the majority stake sale, dismissing rumors about disposal to

Below is an article from “Moody’s Credit Outlook”, 13 June, 2016 issue.Last Wednesday, the Korean government announced plans to recapitalize public-policy banks Korea Development Bank (KDB, Aa2/Aa2 stable, ba2) and The Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM, Aa2 stable), a credit positive for the banks. The plan clarifies the size and method of recapitalization, and maintains the government’s strong commitment to the banks. KDB and KEXIM’s Aa2 ratings benefit from nine notches of government support

 [코리아헤럴드=이선영ㆍ박한나 기자] 2010년 11월 11일. 한국 주식시장은 하나의 사건이 여지없이 무너져버렸다. 이른바  ’11ㆍ11 도이치 옵션쇼크’다. 이 사건 하나로 코스피지수는 전날 대비 53.12포인트 급락했다. 한국 증시 시가총액 28조8000억원이 날라갔고, 개미투자자들은 1400억원대의 손실을 떠안을 수 밖에 없었다.  검찰은 즉각 수사에 나섰다.  이 사건 용의자는 모두 4명. 하지만 이중 외국인 3명은 잠적했고, 한국 도이치증권에 근무하던 한국인 박 모 상무만 재판에 넘겨져 실형이 선고됐다.▶’11ㆍ11 옵션쇼크’란 = 도이치은행의 지수차익거래 담당자인 데렉 옹 등이 옵션만기일인 11일 동시호가 시간 (오후 2시 50분~3시)에 코스피200구성 종목 가운데 199개 종목 2조4400억원어치 현물주식을 직전 가격 대비 4.5~10% 낮은 가격으로 7회에 걸쳐 매도주문을 내 코스피200을 10분동안 2.79% 떨어트렸다. 이들은 현물주식을 팔기 직전 코스피200이

[코리아헤럴드=이선영ㆍ박한나 기자] 지난 2010년 한국 증시를 휘청거리게 한 이른바 ’11ㆍ11 옵션쇼크’의 배후로 지목된 외국인 피의자들이 홍콩과 호주에 거주하고 있는 것으로 확인됐다. 이들은 사건 이후 종적을 감추고 재판에 출석하지 않았다. 검찰은 홍콩, 영국, 호주 행정청에 피고인 인도를 요청했지만 6년이 지나도록 그들의 소재지를 파악하지 못하고 있다.’11ㆍ11 옵션쇼크’는 독일 도이치 증권의 한국인 직원 등이 도이치증권 홍콩지점 외국인 직원들과 공모해 풋옵션을 대량 매입한 후 장 막판에 매각하는 수법으로 거액의 시세차익을 챙긴 사건이다. 당시 이 사건으로 코스피지수 전일 대비 53.12포인트나 폭락했다. 한국 주식시장에서 사상 최악의 주가 조작 사건으로 불린다. 15일 코리아헤럴드 취재팀이 홍콩에 거주하는 A씨의 제보를 받아 확인 취재한 결과 당시 옵션쇼크의 주범인 당시 도이치은행 홍콩지점 차익거래부문 상무 영국인 데렉 옹(Derek Ong)이 홍콩에 거주하고 있는 것으로

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s public pension fund will keep increasing alternative investments and reduce local equities in the long term, as the behemoth’s snowballing assets will be too large for the domestic stock market, its chief investment officer has said.The National Pension Service, which manages about 524 trillion won ($450 billion) collected from 21 million Korean subscribers, is a significant client for leading asset managers around the world, who are hunting attractive real estate, i