Korean brokerages saw their foreign operations turn to net losses in the fiscal first half of 2010 from a year earlier due to increased sales and maintenance costs, the financial regulator said Tuesday.The 47 foreign units of 19 local securities companies posted a combined net loss of $16.6 million in the April-September period, compared with a profit of $23.1 million a year earlier, according to

Inflation breaks BOK ceiling again, led by 30.2% jump in fresh food pricesKorean inflation accelerated for the second straight month in January, breaching the central bank’s 4 percent ceiling and adding to the case for another increase in borrowing costs. According to the report by Statistics Korea, the country’s consumer price index surged 4.1 percent last month from a year earlier, mainly due to

Kookmin Bank, Korea’s largest lender, and local rivals posted a 41 percent jump in combined profit last quarter as widening lending margins increased interest income and provisions for bad loans fell.The 18 lenders net income climbed to 2.1 trillion won ($1.9 billion) for the three months ended Dec. 31, from 1.5 trillion won a year earlier, the Financial Supervisory Service said Tuesday in an e-ma

Korean businesses and investors in Egypt are facing inevitable damage to their operations due to increasingly violent protests there, with many of them forced to stay indoors or have their family members leave the country in a hurry, a local trade body said Monday.Many companies, including Samsung, LG and Hyundai Motor, have decided to immediately bring home the families of their workers in the Ar

Korea’s national pension fund plans to spend 300 billion won ($267.3 million) down the road in order to take over bad debts from distressed commercial banks, the fund’s top manager said Monday. “The National Pension Service has recently decided to invest an additional 300 billion won in funds to buy non-performing loans as part of our alternative investment expansion,” Chairman Jun Kwang-woo said

Korea’s smallest mobile carrier, LG Uplus Corp. said Monday that it swung into the red in the fourth quarter of 2010 from one year ago, hurt by depreciation costs. Net loss stood at 49.2 billion won ($44.1 million) in the October-December period, compared with a 78.4 billion won net income a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. The mobile operator said it had lost money in the th

Korea’s computer chip exports are expected to reach $52.5 billion in 2011, fueled by greater overseas demand for system semiconductors, the government said Monday.The total represents a growth of 3.5 percent compared to the previous year, with outbound shipments of system semiconductors used to make products like smartphones and tablet PCs expanding 18.7 percent on-year to $19.1 billion, the Minis

Data shows recovery on track, adds pressure for rate increaseKorea’s industrial output grew for the 18th straight month in December, suggesting the economic recovery remains on track and adding to the case for the central bank to raise borrowing costs again.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining and manufacturing industries expanded 9.8 percent last month from the sa

Individually tailored equity portfolios may double in Korea this year as investors shift cash from index-tracking mutual funds, advisory firm Korea Creative Investment said. Brokerages sold $1.2 billion of products to individual investors based on Korea Creative’s stock picks within a month of the company starting business Dec. 13, Seo Jae-hyeong, chief executive officer of the Seoul-based firm, s

Korea Electric Power Corp., the country’s biggest electricity producer, posted a narrower fourth-quarter loss after the government allowed power prices to increase for the first time in more than a year and a stronger won cut the cost of its foreign-currency loans.The loss shrank to 18.2 billion won ($16.2 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31 from a deficit of 336.4 billion won a year earlie

Former police chief Kang Hee-rak was arrested Thursday on charges of receiving kickbacks from a contractor in exchange for influence-peddling. Prosecutors claimed Kang received 180 million won in 2009 from a broker who demanded operational rights of makeshift cafeterias at construction sites. A Seoul district court issued an arrest warrant for him. The court had refused to approve the prosecution’

Korea’s business sentiment for February turned negative for the first time in 17 months amid rising prices of imported raw materials and signs of rate hikes, a poll showed Thursday.The Business Survey Index (BSI) for February came in at 98.0, compared with 101.4 in January, according to the Federation of Korean Industries, the largest industry lobby in Korea.The BSI reading has stayed above 100 si

The state-run Korea Development Bank, main creditor of Korea Express, said Thursday that it will pick two arrangers next month to find a new owner for the country’s top logistics company.Creditors are seeking to sell over 35 percent of their total 47.9 percent stake in Korea Express, held by Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc., the airline unit of liquidity-squeezed Kumh

Korean stocks closed 0.22 percent higher on Thursday as investor sentiment was lifted by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s vow to keep its bond-buying program to support an economic recovery, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 4.55 points to 2,115.01, the fourth straight session of gains.Trading volume was moderate at 347.

The portion of Korea’s direct investment in China shrank last year amid intensifying competition from other global companies in the world’s second-largest and fastest-growing economy, a report said Thursday.In the first nine months of 2010, the proportion of foreign direct investment made by Korean firms in China dropped to 2 percent from 2.7 percent in 2009, according to the report from the Korea

Korea’s per-capita annual consumption of rice declined to a record low last year as a growing number of people chose other food alternatives for their daily meals, a report showed Thursday.Rice consumption per person in the household sector here came to 72.8 kilograms last year, down from 74 kilograms the previous year, according to Statistics Korea. The figure was the lowest since related data st

Korea’s imports of bottled water jumped to a record high last year as demand grew for premium brands from European countries, the nation’s customs office said Thursday.Korea imported a record $7.9 million worth of bottled water last year, up 19 percent from a year earlier. The import figures have grown an annual average of 23 percent over the past five years, according to the report by the Korean

BRUSSELS (Yonhap News) ― The European Parliament’s trade committee passed an enactment bill that outlines the use of trade safeguards once a free trade agreement with Korea goes into effect, local sources said Wednesday.Parliamentary insiders said the Committee on International Trade passed the bilateral safeguard act with no objections raised by those taking part in the vote.A safeguard arrangeme

Korea’s plans to slaughter 7.9 million cattle, pigs and poultry to halt the spread of disease are pricing pensioner Lee Ok-soon out of a Lunar New Year tradition of cooking beef soup as an offering for her ancestors. “I don’t believe the government can do anything to pull down prices, which are soaring as if the sky’s the limit,” said Lee, 77, as she shopped at a market in central Seoul on Jan. 20

S-Oil Corp., Korea’s third- biggest oil refiner, posted a fourth-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates as a global economic recovery helped increase earnings from processing crude into gasoline and diesel. Net income was 322.7 billion won ($290 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of 87.4 billion won a year earlier, the Seoul-based company said in a regulatory fi