JB Financial Group said Thursday its net profit hit a record high last year on higher net interest income and operational efficiency. The financial group logged 601 billion won ($477.5 million) in net profit in 2022, up 18.6 percent from a year ago, according to its earnings report. The amount marks the largest since the financial holding company was launched in 2013. “The group will seek to continue its stable growth this year by focusing on profitability-oriented and substantial manage

Kyobo Life Insurance, one of Korea's leading life insurers, said Wednesday that it will convert itself into a financial holding company before the end of next year in a bid to expand its business portfolio into other financial sectors. The company seeks to seize new business opportunities as the country’s low birth rates and aging population hamper the growth of the life insurance business. “The idea of establishing a holding company began with the recognition that a new corpo

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed Tuesday to make good of the United Arab Emirates' $30 billion investment pledge with two new consultative bodies, and called on the public and private sector to come up with mutually beneficial, innovative partnership projects. Stressing that the UAE’s decision for the investment was based on trust in Korea, the president said the country should “respond by discovering innovative investment partnership projects that serve the interests

By Steve Brice As we start 2023, investors’ scars from last year’s sell-off across publicly traded markets are still very raw. Against this backdrop, the theme of our 2023 Outlook, Playing it SAFE, should resonate with investors. We believe sequencing your investments is going to be important in the coming year: Bonds are a good place to start, given some of the highest yields offered in a decade and our expectation that a recession is likely in the US and Europe in the first half of

NPS In Action is a series of articles and interviews on South Korea’s largest investor National Pension Service to analyze its current state and identify tasks that lie ahead. This is the first installment. -- Ed. Seo Won-joo took the reins as the new chief investment officer of the National Pension Service in the time when he has to wear multiple hats to run the world’s third largest pension fund. With a career path that wound through life insurance companies and a pension fund

The Korean government will make a fresh attempt to get its sovereign bond to be included in the top grade of global market indices, the country’s top economic policymaker told global investors Friday. Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho revamped local financial rules to adhere to “global standards” so that Asia’s fourth-largest economy could attract more foreign investors. “Starting this year, we will reform the Korean capital market in a way that is foreign investor-f

The rise of shareholder activist campaigns will provide outside perspectives for Korean companies and increase their values both socially and financially in a long term, said Alex Edmans, a finance professor at the London Business School. “Evidence shows that when you have shareholders engaging, as long as these are large shareholders which have skin in the game, and therefore incentives to do a lot of their own research, it is useful to listen to those outside perspectives,” Edmans

Supporting vulnerable people, especially children and women, to get back on their feet has been a powerful catalyst for the chairperson of Korean real estate developer Daom Holdings to keep her business going. Kim Ju-young, who has over 20 years’ experience in land development business under her belt, has ambitious goals -- both for her company and life -- that she wants to achieve in five years. One of them is making her company with 100 employees double its assets to 1 trillion won ($805

Concerns over deepening economic slowdown and a bleak outlook for global business conditions, experts predicted that this year the country’s economy would fall deep into a dark and chaotic situation as if it "goes down the rabbit hole." Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry summarized the opinions of some 85 economics and management experts including university professors as "falling down the rabbit hole." The KCCI survey respondents said an unprecedented economic en

Bank stocks in South Korea have long been regarded as an unappealing option for investors. Against this backdrop, a local activist fund was launched Monday targeting seven large Korean lenders to whet investor appetite by shoring up dividends. Korean banks have strong fundamentals and enough capital to cushion against unexpected losses, but their dividend payout ratios remain much lower than those of their global peers, according to Lee Chang-hwan, CEO of Seoul-based private equity firm Align Pa

The government seeks to sharply raise tax incentives for semiconductor manufacturing facilities days after President Yoon expressed dissatisfaction over smaller-than-envisioned tax cut that lags behind subsidy plans offered by other countries racing to bolster their chip industries. The tax code revision plan proposed by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, big corporations that make investment into “national strategic technologies” such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, and

By Business Desk New opportunities can arise from out of crises. Chiefs of Korea's top conglomerates are banking on words of wisdom for the year ahead as businesses face an age of relentless changes stemming from geopolitical conflicts, inflationary pressures and a recessionary environment. To overcome factors dragging on business activities, uncovering their own path to thrive for growth has become more important than ever as traditional approaches and paradigms have been challenged. In

The new CEO of Shinhan Bank, one of South Korea's top four lenders by net profit, vowed to put customer-centric service and digital innovation first during his tenure. “Shinhan will manage its soundness through precise data analysis and protect customer value through timely support measures,” said Han Yong-gu, former deputy president in charge of sales management at the lender, who was inaugurated as CEO on Friday. Offering supportive measures for vulnerable debtors such as ow

Korea International Trade Association Chairman Koo Ja-yeol on Thursday vowed to make all-out efforts to support export companies in finding new growth opportunities next year, as industries seek to transition toward a digital and carbon-neutral economy. “We will actively strengthen our export foothold in response to the changed trade structure and green and digital transitions that have been accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic,” Koo said in his New Year's message. Diffic

Rumors about the possible sale of the Korean unit of Yuanta Securities, a Taiwanese investment bank, to Korean banking conglomerate Woori Financial Group have reemerged, causing the former’s stock price to spike by over 20 percent on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, a local media outlet reported that Yuanta Financial Holdings is in talks to sell its Korean unit to Woori Financial Group with the transaction expected to be closed early next year. The sale price was lowered from 1.5 trillion wo

South Korean companies have seen revenue growth this year, but their fiscal health has deteriorated due to increased debt and lowered profitability, according to a report from a major business lobby group Monday. Despite their growing revenue, the slowdown in the growth rate, inventory piling up and soaring borrowing costs draw concerns as the country’s economy is largely expected to see headwinds next year, with sluggish exports and uncertainties in the global market. “Companies h

In Seoul’s Apgujeong in Gangnam-gu, home to many of Korea’s rich families, an elegant seven-story building draws the gaze of passersby. The eye-catching building is established by KB Financial Group to offer hyperpersonalized financial services to the wealthiest people in the country. This place goes well beyond what people usually expect of commercial banks. Instead of having to grab a queue ticket, customers are served with a cup of coffee a barista stationed in the building just b

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won painted a gloomy outlook for the semiconductors industry, but predicted the downturn will not last long, as chip cycles have tended to grow shorter. “In the long run, semiconductors have always gone up and down, and recently, semiconductor cycles have become very short. In the old days, it took three years, but these days it seems to be shortened to one year,” said Chey, who also serves as the chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry,

The government has drawn up new growth strategies to secure future technology such as aerospace and artificial intelligence and to accelerate digital transformation to help its sluggish economy leap forward. Through the "New Growth 4.0 Strategy" unveiled by economy-related ministries on Wednesday, the country seeks to secure forward-looking technology, digital transformation and further expanding the country's prowess in chips and display panels to gain a competitive advantage o