Korea’s listed companies saw their earnings surge 73 percent on-year in 2010 thanks to a recovery in domestic demand and robust exports, a report showed Sunday.The combined net profit of 573 firms listed on the main bourse came to 55.8 trillion won ($51 billion) last year, up from 32.2 trillion won the previous year, according to the report jointly compiled by the Korea Exchange and the Korea List

Korean stocks are forecast to gather further momentum to set a new record high this week as the market brushes off global woes like Japan’s massive quake and Middle East political unrest, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index ended this week 66.97 points, or 3.26 percent, higher to 2,121.01 on Friday from a week earlier, marking the highest closing ever for the local key in

Korea’s top financial regulator has said the watchdog will push to make a final decision this month over whether Lone Star Funds has the legal right to be the top shareholder of Korea Exchange Bank.Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Seok-dong said in a meeting with reporters, “We are working to make a final decision on Lone Star’s eligibility in April.” The regulator is expected to deliber

The longest vacancy on the Bank of Korea’s monetary board since 1998 raises the risk of policy deadlock as officials struggle to tame inflation while maintaining growth. The seat held by Park Bong-heum, a former budget and planning minister appointed by President Lee Myung-bak’s predecessor, has been empty since April 2010. The lack of a seventh member means deadlocks on interest- rate decisions a

Per capita income tops $20,000 for first time since 2007Korea’s economy grew by 6.2 percent in 2010 in the fastest expansion for eight years, the central bank said Wednesday after revising an earlier estimate of 6.1 percent.The bank also raised gross domestic product growth for 2009 to 0.3 percent from its earlier projection of 0.2 percent.The country’s gross national income, reflecting the actual

Bank Mellat asked Korean regulators to take the company off a list of institutions whose transactions must be approved by the central bank, said Ernst Lee, a spokesman for the Financial Services Commission in Seoul.Korea last year put 102 Iranian organizations including Tehran-based Bank Mellat and 24 individuals on a list banning financial transactions without central bank approval.Yonhap News ea

Korea’s financial regulator said Wednesday it will require credit card companies to set aside more loss reserves against credit card loans amid growing concerns over burgeoning household debts.The measures to limit credit card companies’ lending and prop up their financial health came after the sector recorded sharp growth in household loans last year. Mushrooming household debts have been cited a

Hyundai Motor Group, whose flagships are Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and No.2 Kia Motors Corp., pledged Tuesday to provide over $400 million in support for its suppliers this year.The group’s fresh commitment came at an annual ceremony where the group and its suppliers pledge to engage in fair trade practices. This year’s event was also attended by 1,585 suppliers of Hyundai Motor and

Korea has decided to downsize areas originally included as part of the country’s six free economic zones to reflect changing development requirements, the government said Tuesday.The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said a review panel ruled to exclude 12 areas covering 90.4-square kilometers of land from the FEZs, a move expected to cut back on overall costs and construction time.Seoul first designa

Korea will host an annual meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank in 2015, a chance that the government expects would deepen its economic cooperation with American countries, the finance ministry said Tuesday.The decision was unanimously made during the 52nd round of the IDB annual meeting that ended on Monday in Canada, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said in a press release.Founded i

The Export-Import Bank of Korea said Tuesday it signed a deal to provide a $50 million loan to Bolivia to assist the country’s development projects.Eximbank President Kim Yong-hwan signed the deal with Bolivia’s Development Planning Minister Carlos Villegas in Calgary, Canada, to provide the economic development cooperation funds, according to the state-run trade bank. Kim Yong-hwan (left), chairm

Korean commercial and state-controlled banks are seeking to strengthen their investment banking sectors in the belief they will be their new growth engines.Beyond the saturated loan issuance market, most local banks share the view that investment banking is one of many priorities for globalization in the coming years.Among them are KB Kookmin Bank, Woori Bank, Shinhan Bank and Industrial Bank of K

Creditors of Korea Express Co. have accepted preliminary bids from three local conglomerates, including steel giant POSCO, to buy Korea‘s largest logistics firm, sources said Monday. Co-sales managers Nomura Securities and the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) accepted letters of intent in early March from POSCO, retail giant Lotte Group and leading food conglomerate CJ Group to buy a 37.6 pe

New chairman pledges to regain market confidence after management feudShinhan Financial Group Co. is seeking acquisitions of Asian lenders to increase its presence in the region as domestic growth opportunities stall, its new chairman said Monday.“We’re looking at various ways to enter Asian markets, including M&A,” Han Dong-woo, chairman and chief executive officer, told reporters. The company ai

Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., the biggest unit of Korea’s Hyundai Group, surged in Seoul trading after shareholders rejected a proposal to increase the preferred stock sales limit, raising speculation it may become a takeover target. Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., owner of a 23.8 percent stake in Korea’s second-biggest shipping line, and three other companies with holdings voted against the plan at

Women walk down an aisle where seaweed is displayed at a store in Seoul on Thursday. (Kim Myung-sub/The Korea Herald)Korean food makers have been swamped with orders for bottled water and instant noodles from Japan following radiation leaks from an earthquake-damaged nuclear power plant, the companies said Thursday.The flood of orders comes as concerns over the safety of food and drinking water ar

Korean stocks ended 1.22 percent higher on Thursday as foreign investors sharply increased their holdings on reviving appetite for riskier assets, analysts said. The local currency gained ground against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index advanced 24.6 points to 2,036.78. Trading volume was light at 290.3 million shares worth 6.56 trillion won ($5.8 billion), with gaine

Growth in Korea’s labor productivity in the manufacturing sector slowed in the fourth quarter of 2010 due to weaker private consumption and business investments, a government report showed Thursday.According to the report by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the labor productivity index in the three month period gained just 3.3 percent on-year to 137.0, marking the third straight quarter of slowe

Korea’s top trade official said Thursday that the government is carefully looking into the impact of a free trade deal with China on Asia’s fourth-largest economy as there are divided views on benefits.“We are cautiously examining the impact of a free trade deal with China on our economy,” Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon said in a meeting with business leaders. Kim said there are opinions that

Home-backed loans amount to 284.5tr won, set to grow furtherThe proportion of mortgage loans to total household lending hit a record high level in the fourth quarter of last year amid monetary easing, central bank data showed Thursday.Home-backed loans extended by local banks reached 284.5 trillion won ($253.3 billion) as of the end of 2010, accounting for 65.9 percent of an outstanding 431.5 tril