Green Cross Corp., a listed Korean pharmaceutical company, said Thursday that it plans issue three and five-year bonds worth some 100 billion won ($86 million) to finance its expansion overseas.The company’s bond underwriter NH Investment & Securities will evaluate the value of the bonds graded AA minus through a book building process next week. Its bond issues mark the first time for the company to raise funds in the local capital market.“The proceeds will be used for its expansion in the advan

The Korean economy is facing pressure from all sides that will make it harder to sustain growth amid high youth unemployment, rapidly changing demographics and slow manufacturing growth.With cash-strapped companies in conventional industries expected to go through restructuring soon, more people of all ages will be out of jobs and face difficulties in finding work in a slow market.This will increase Korea’s unemployment rate, while growing costs for restructuring and welfare will add burden to f

The state-run Korea Development Bank said Tuesday that it will hand over its shares of Korea Aerospace Industries to the Export-Import Bank of Korea as part of an emergency financial relief.“We have decided to give our KAI shares to Eximbank,” KDB chief executive Lee Dong-geol told reporters ahead of a meeting with the Financial Services Commission on Tuesday.Korea Development Bank (Yonhap)KDB will hand over its 7.86 percent stake in KAI worth about 500 billion won ($426 million) to boost the ca

Korea’s top financial regulator and a labor group remain divided over the government’s push to install incentive systems at state-run financial companies.Both sides are adamant in their positions with the Korean Financial Industry Union planning to go on a strike, while the Financial Services Commission reiterated that it will enforce the system as part of reforms. FSC chairman Yim Jong-yong (Yonhap)In a meeting with the heads of state-run financial companies Tuesday, FSC chairman Yim Jong-yong

Caregen is not a typical Korean biotechnology company local investors are most familiar with.When it comes to biotech shares trading on the stock market, LG Life Sciences or Medy-Tox would generally come to mind. They are big biotech players, with the market cap of LG Life Sciences reaching over 1 trillion won ($858.8 million) on the benchmark KOSPI. Medy-Tox ranks 6th with nearly 3 trillion won in market cap on the tech-heavy KOSDAQ.Caregen’s booth at the World Congress of Dermatology in Vancou

With international oil prices forecast to rise in the long-term and the effects of monetary easing waning in advanced economies, foreign investors are expected to soon become net-sellers of Korean stocks from net-buyers, according to the Korean Center for International Finance on Thursday. Several external risks are looming that will eventually lead foreign investors to offload their Korean stock holdings.The continued deadlock in talks on production between OPEC and non-OPEC oil producing econo

Korea’s household debt has recently been increasing in tandem with rising mortgages on the back of relaxed regulations on borrowings and recovery in the housing market, the International Monetary Fund said.In its regional report assessing Korea’s household debt and housing market, the IMF noted that Korea’s high household debt does not pose a downside risk to the Korean economy, with financial authorities tightening their monitoring of nonbank loans and management of debtors’ repayment capabilit

The Finance Ministry and the Bank of Korea have agreed to increase the capital base of policy banks through a mix of fiscal and monetary policies to ensure that corporate restructuring is carried out as planned, according to ministry officials Wednesday.In their first task force meeting presided over by Vice Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok with officials from the central bank, the Financial Services Commission, the state-run Korea Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of Korea, the Finance

Korea can afford to implement more monetary easing to boost the economy amid weak growth, but not for the purpose of recapitalizing policy banks to finance restructuring of debt-laden companies, Frederic Neumann, an economist of HSBC, said.In a seminar on the Korean economy, Neumann, the head of HSBC’s Asian Economic Research, said that Korean quantitative easing is not QE in the conventional sense as practiced by other central banks like the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank or the Bank of

Lotte Capital has invested 5 billion won ($4.4 million) in commercial papers of its affiliate Lotte PS Net, an IT system and database developer of Lotte’s Korea Seven.Lotte PS Net said that it plans to use the proceeds to finance its operations.Korea Seven is an operator of Lotte’s 7-Eleven convenient stores. Korea Seven’s biggest shareholder is Lotte Shopping, according to an audit filing.By Park Hyong-ki (hkp@heraldcorp.com)

Yongpyong Resort said Monday that it is seeking to raise 135.4 billion won ($118.8 million) by issuing 16.7 million common shares for an initial public offering.In a regulatory filing, Korea’s third largest resort and hotel operator by sales said it will use the IPO proceeds to finance the construction of a condominium, apartments for Olympic athletes at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and a budget hotel, as well as repay its debt to state-run Korea Development Bank. Yongpyong Resort (Yonha

GS Retail, a listed operator of convenience stores, said that it will retain advisors for the sale of real estate holdings owned by its project financing vehicle subsidiary KOCREF G.Square next week.The retail giant of GS Group said that it will disclose the details after a sales advisor is selected and plans are finalized for liquidation of the real estate.The company did not disclose as to why and which properties it was selling.However, news reported that GS Retail has been suffering losses o

Korea is expected to launch a task force comprising officials from finance and regulatory agencies to exchange opinions and discuss ways to increase the capital base of state-run policy banks for massive restructuring of cash-strapped shipping and shipbuilding companies.This comes as the Financial Services Commission, the top financial regulator, unveiled its initial plan to launch creditor-led debt restructuring last week, citing the need to increase capital buffers of the state-owned Korea Dev

The U.S. inclusion of Korea in the foreign exchange monitor list will not affect Seoul’s monetary policy, Korean economic policymakers said Sunday. “As Korea avoided the currency manipulator designation, there won’t be any significant changes in the forex polices,” Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho was quoted as saying. Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho (Yonhap)“Although Korea is included in the monitoring list, this always happens with the U.S. department. There will be no changes (in the country’s policies)

State-owned Korea Development Bank was founded in 1954 with a specific goal and role -- to back the government’s industrial policies by providing necessary capital to help companies innovate, grow and most importantly, create jobs.But 62 years later, with a plethora of companies failing to meet their debt obligations and facing inevitable restructuring through asset sales and job cuts, the policy bank has now turned into a “fireman” who will have to put out the fire caused by corporate mismanage

A slew of companies ranging from shipping, shipbuilding to petrochemicals and steel -- once Korea’s growth engines -- exposed to financial risks stemming from downturns and bad debts are about to face rigorous restructuring spearheaded by the top financial regulator.The Financial Services Commission said Tuesday that it will carry out the so-called “three-track” system of corporate restructuring. Under the scheme, the regulator in collaboration with other state agencies and creditor banks will i

Korea’s state-run policy banks have been questioned on whether they can withstand potential debt fallout from companies facing marginal or weak profitability, with lenders’ capital buffering capability falling on increased loans to financially instable conglomerates.A report by the Korea Development Institute showed that the country’s two main policy lenders – Korea Development Bank and the Korea Export-Import Bank – extended loans worth 82 trillion won ($70 billion) two years ago, up from 34 tr

A number of securities companies have increased their expectations for KT&G following the earnings surprise by the KOSPI-listed tobacco-maker in the first quarter.Eugene Investment & Securities said the company is expected to continue its momentum in the second half of this year, increasing its share price target from 130,000 won ($113) to 150,000 won. It recommended buy.Samsung Securities also increased the target valuation to 145,000 won a share from 135,000 won as its first quarter operating

Korea’s corporate bond issues fell more than 40 percent to 1.6 trillion won ($1.4 billion) last month due to worsening corporate sentiment, according to the Financial Supervisory Service on Monday.The FSS data show that fixed-income securities issued by corporations amounted to some 7.9 trillion won in the first quarter of this year ending March 31, down more than 34 percent from a year ago.  Financial Supervisory Service headquarters in Seoul (Yonhap)The fall was attributable to a decline in th

Strategy and Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said that Korea cannot afford to hold off structural reforms, stressing that this should not just slip by the public’s attention without merit.In an email to the employees of the Finance Ministry on Thursday -- the 100th day since his appointment as the country’s top fiscal policymaker, Yoo said that reforms in the public, labor, education and finance sectors are necessary for a country facing limited growth. Strategy and Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho (Yonhap