Business - The Korea Times

KEPCO suffers record operating loss in 2022 on high fuel costs

This Aug. 16, 2022 file photo shows a person passing by the headquarters of Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) in Seoul. NewsisThe state-run utility Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) said Friday its operating loss more than quintupled on-year to hit a record high last year due to higher fuel costs and limited electricity rate hikes.Its operating loss came to 32.63 trillion won ($25.02 billion) in 2022, compared with 5.85 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.It is the largest ever yearly figure the company has logged so far, and the previous record was set in 2021.Sales grew 17.5 percent on-year to 71.27 trillion won on larger demand.But global liquefied natural gas prices more than doubled on-year to 1,564.8 won per ton last year, and the price of soft coal spiked to $359 per ton in 2022 from $139.1 a year earlier, according to government data.In the fourth quarter alone, operating loss stood at 10.77 trillion won, also an all-time high, the company said.In the wake of snowballing losses, KEPCO has been implementing a series of self-rescue measu

Feb 24, 2023

KEPCO suffers record operating loss in 2022 on high fuel costs

Decrease in bank branches feared to hinder access by digitally vulnerable clients

People wait to use automated teller machines in Seoul, March 2022. Newsis By Lee Yeon-wooThe number of bank branches continues to fall as lenders increasingly focus on online financial services. The trend has raised concerns for digitally vulnerable people such as senior citizens whose accessibility to banking services may be hindered. It also could lead to unexpected blind spots.According to the Financial Statistics Information System at the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), 17 banks, including commercial, local, and specialized banks, operate 5,855 branches as of last September, which is 340 less than a year ago. The figure has been on a downward trajectory since 2015, but the pace of the decrease has accelerated amid the COVID-led social quarantine policy. Banks have closed down some 1,300 offices over a seven-year period.The reduction in the number of bank offices is a global industry trend. But the phenomenon seems to be more drastic in Korea which already h

Feb 24, 2023By Lee Yeon-woo

Decrease in bank branches feared to hinder access by digitally vulnerable clients

Securities depository's next leadership draws controversy

Union members at the Korea Securities Depository protest a parachute appointment at its Seoul office, Wednesday. YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungThe Korea Securities Depository (KSD) is drawing controversy for “parachuting in” an outside figure who worked as a think tank member of President Yoon Suk Yeol's election camp.According to the KSD's executive recommendation committee, Lee Soon-ho ― a researcher at the Korea institute of Finance ― has been nominated as the sole candidate for the KSD's next presidency. The committee plans to officially recommend him for the post during its shareholders' meeting slated for Feb. 28.Earlier, the committee shortlisted three candidates ― including Lee, KSD Executive Director Park Cheol-young and former Heungkuk Asset Management chief Do Byung-won ― for the position. Lee received a doctorate of economics at the University of Illinois and has served as a researcher at the organization since 2006.But the decision triggered public ire as he is not a figure from inside the organization. Last year, Lee joined the think tank and teamed up with Financia

Feb 23, 2023By Lee Min-hyung

Securities depository's next leadership draws controversy

When will Kakao Entertainment debut on bourse?

The headquarters of Kakao Entertainment located in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province / YonhapBy Anna J. Park Kakao Entertainment is widely believed to be aiming to go public by the end of this year or early next year. The entertainment subsidiary of Kakao had long considered making a debut on the local stock market, yet the IPO plan has been delayed till now, amid strong criticism against the big tech firm's continuous split-off listings that harmed Kakao shareholders' interests.According to industry sources, the entertainment company sees that the timing will be right for them to go public either by the end of this year or early next year. Yet, the company refused to outline its stance on the matter in detail.“The company is examining various options, but nothing has been confirmed (regarding the IPO plan),” an official from Kakao Entertainment said. “If specific plans are confirmed, the company will announce them,” the official added. Kakao Entertainment grew to be a major entertainment force in the country, as it acquired KakaoPage, KakaoM ― music distribution bus

Feb 22, 2023By Anna J. Park

When will Kakao Entertainment debut on bourse?

Banks rush to share economic burden following gov't pressure

Bank ATM machines are lined up in Seoul in this file photo. Korea Times file.By Yi Whan-wooCommercial banks are taking a series of measures aimed at sharing the economic burden felt by the public after the government slammed the lenders for making windfall profits from rising interest rates, while turning a blind eye to the worsening livelihoods of Koreans.On Tuesday, the Korea Federation of Banks (KFB) announced that 20 of its members plan to hire 2,288 people in the first half of 2023, up 48 percent from a year earlier.The 20 banks include the five biggest lenders _ KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup _ which reaped 39.38 trillion won ($30.4 billion) in combined net interest income last year.The 2023 earnings marked a 19.4 percent year-on-year increase, largely due to a steep rate hike delivered by the Bank of Korea (BOK) in its policy shift to pre-pandemic levels. The BOK's policy rate currently stands at more than a 10-year high of 3.5 percent, following a 3 percentage point hike between August 2021 and January this year.The five major banks have been pressured to give back

Feb 21, 2023By Yi Whan-woo

Banks rush to share economic burden following gov't pressure

K bank improves efficiency through robotic process

K bank headquarters in central Seoul / Courtesy of K bankBy Anna J. ParkK bank announced Tuesday that it has raised its efficiency by adopting robotic process automation (RPA), an AI-based software system that saved 28,000 hours of work last year for the digital lender. The internet-only bank explained that it began adopting the RPA system in the first half of 2022, and it is now engaged in the bank's 11 business departments. The RPA completed some 400,000 tasks during the last year, resulting in saving 28,000 hours of work, which is a reduction of 90 percent of the previous work hours required of human workers. One area in which the RPA system excels is suspicious transaction reports (STRs), which are submitted to financial regulators whenever banks find reasonable grounds to suspect financial transactions of violating the law. The painstaking work had previously been carried out by several employees, but now the robotic software system is taking significant charge of the reporting process. The automatic system also contributes in the selection of K bank customers out of groups of p

Feb 21, 2023By Anna J. Park

K bank improves efficiency through robotic process

Naver Pay and Samsung Pay join hands to counter Apple Pay

gettyimagesbankPayment market war beginsBy Anna J. ParkWith Apple Pay's imminent launch in Korea, Naver Pay and Samsung Pay formed a strategic partnership earlier this week to consolidate their current dominance over the mobile payment market in the country, a move seen as an alliance to keep Apple Pay's potential growth in local markets in check. It is the first time for Samsung Pay to join hands with financial companies, other than Samsung Card.The partnership between the two top mobile payment players in each domain ― Naver Pay being the number one online payment service company and Samsung Pay being the top offline mobile payment service with 23.5 percent market share in the country ― is expected to create synergy, resulting in increased convenience for service users. Official logos of Samsung Pay and Naver Pay / Courtesy of Samsung ElectronicsWith the two mobile payment providers' cooperation in payment and digital wallet services, a whopping 31.5 million Naver Pay users can make payments with their cell phone at any store that accepts credit card payments, using magnetic secure

Feb 21, 2023By Anna J. Park

Naver Pay and Samsung Pay join hands to counter Apple Pay

NongHyup Bank to enhance global partnership with ING

NH NongHyup Bank Deputy President Lee Yeon-ho, second from left, and ING Global Head of Transaction Services Elvira Kruger, third from left, pose with other executives from their respective companies during Kruger's visit to NH NongHyup Bank headquarters in central Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of NH NongHyup BankBy Yi Whan-wooNH NongHyup Bank said Tuesday that a high-ranking executive of Dutch multinational banking company ING visited Seoul to discuss ways to enhance their partnership.The Korean bank said Deputy President Lee Yeon-ho met ING Global Head of Transaction Services Elvira Kruger at the bank's headquarters in central Seoul, Monday.“We shared thoughts on ways to bolster cooperation in global currency trade and international trade financing,” Lee said in a press release.He added the two sides have a rich history in their respective countries' finance industries and that they will “continue to be committed to deepening the partnership. ING is the fifth-largest European banking company with its market value amounting to 49 billion euros as of February.The Korean c

Feb 21, 2023By Yi Whan-woo

NongHyup Bank to enhance global partnership with ING

Planned alcohol price hike to add to livelihood woes

Bottles of Kloud, a flagship beer brand of Lotte Chilsung brewery, are displayed at a market in Seoul in this 2022 file photo. Korea Times fileBy Yi Whan-wooPrices of beer and soju may go up again following last year's hike, which would add to the people's woes in the midst of economic uncertainties.Beer and soju have been possibly the two most-sought-after drinks among consumers at times of economic difficulty as they are cheap compared to other alcoholic beverages.Under the circumstances, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said the tax levied on beer will increase by 30.5 won per liter to 885.7 won beginning in April, following a 20.8 won increase per liter in 2022.The planned tax hike is worrisome as it comes amid increases in costs of raw materials, shipping, labor, electricity and other production-related processes.For instance, brewing company HiteJinro ticked up the warehouse price of its two flagship beer brands ― Terra and Hite ― by 7.7 percent in 2022.Another brewing company, Lotte Chilsung, increased the warehouse price of its Kloud beer by 8.2 percent during the same yea

Feb 20, 2023By Yi Whan-woo

Planned alcohol price hike to add to livelihood woes

Samsung Fire taps into urban air mobility market

The entrance to Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance's office building in Seoul. YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungSamsung Fire & Marine Insurance is set to launch a new form of insurance products specially designed for the urban air mobility (UAM) market.The insurer said Monday it has clinched a partnership with two local UAM-related startups ― Moviation and UI Helijet ― to drive all parties' further expansion into the emerging growth area.The Samsung affiliate will start developing the UAM insurance products by taking advantage of Mobiation's accumulated dataset on the industry. It remains unclear when the products will become available as the industry is still in its infant stages here.“Countries around the world are aggressively expanding their investments and support for the activation of the UAM market,” said Choi Jae-bong, vice president of the Samsung subsidiary. He added that Samsung Fire expects the latest partnerships to become a starting point for the company to gain an upper hand in the nascent market that comes with huge future growth potential.The Korean government

Feb 20, 2023By Lee Min-hyung

Banking & Finance