Business - The Korea Times

Lotte Insurance appoints new CEO

Lotte Insurance CEO Lee Eun-ho / Courtesy of Lotte InsuranceBy Anna J. ParkLotte Insurance, a Korea-headquartered insurance firm with expertise in non-life insurance, appointed a new CEO, Lee Eun-ho, early this month. The appointment was confirmed at the firm's board meeting last week.Lee has a career of over 20 years in devising business strategies for the financial industry, including marketing, mergers and acquisitions, overseas expansion and pricing. Prior to assuming the chief role at Lotte Insurance, Lee served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) as well as senior executive director since December 2019. “Under the clear direction of strengthening the core competitiveness of Lotte's insurance business, the company will continue to solidify its sustainable growth by increasing internal values,” CEO Lee said during his inaugural address, adding that the firm will focus on developing an innovative insurance service in the age of digital transformation. The new CEO also said he will focus on creating a company structure where speedy communications and decision making are po

Feb 7, 2022By Anna J. Park

IMM invests in subtitling unicorn company Iyuno-SDI

Iyuno-SDI Group founder and CEO David Lee / Courtesy of Iyuno-SDI GroupBy Anna J. ParkWith IMM Investment's decision to inject about 140 billion won ($117 million) into Iyuno-SDI Group, the global media company with an expertise in providing subtitles, captions and dubbing services has solidified its unicorn status with an estimated corporate value of over 1 trillion won. According to the investment banking industry this week, IMM signed a sales and purchase agreement (SPA) recently with the media company. Founder and CEO Lee Hyon-moo, also known as David Lee, holds the largest portion of the company shares, followed by Stockholm-headquartered Altor Equity Partners and SoftBank Vision Fund. With IMM's investment this round, it is set to become the fourth-largest shareholder of the company.Iyuno-SDI received an investment of some 180 billion won from SoftBank Vision Fund last April, to reach a corporate valuation of 600 billion won, and the firm's value has nearly doubled in just nine months. SoftBank injected 24 billion won in 2018 as well. Founded in Seoul in 2002, the company has g

Feb 4, 2022By Anna J. Park

IMM invests in subtitling unicorn company Iyuno-SDI

Celltrion may face further review by FSC on alleged accounting fraud

The headquarters of Celltrion located in Songdo, Incheon / Courtesy of CelltrionBy Anna J. Park It seems that financial regulators have a long way to go before reaching a conclusion on the allegations of fraudulent accounting practices at three Celltrion companies ― Celltrion, Celltrion Healthcare and Celltrion Pharm. While a Financial Services Commission (FSC) inspection of Celltrion has been underway since last November, it remains uncertain when the top financial regulator's Securities Futures Commission (SFC) ― the deliberation body under the FSC ― will officially start discussing the matter. Some local media outlets have reported that the SFC is set to deliberate on the long-standing issue sometime around next week, after completing discussions at the FSC's accounting-focused deliberative body. An FSC official told The Korea Times Thursday that it is legally prohibited to reveal or confirm the SFC's meeting agenda. The SFC holds its meetings twice a month, and the official explained that anything discussed can only be disclosed to the public afterwards. “The FSC committee,

Feb 3, 2022By Anna J. Park

Celltrion may face further review by FSC on alleged accounting fraud

Korean investors hold record-high foreign securities in 2021: KSD

Korea Securities Depository (KSD) website / Screencapture from KSD's homepageKorean investors held a record amount of foreign securities via the Korea Securities Depository (KSD) in 2021, and their transaction volume also reached a new yearly high during the same period, the central securities depository said Thursday.According to data from the KSD, local investors' foreign securities holdings reached $100.59 billion (120.6 trillion won) as of the end of last year. Their total transaction volume also set a new record at $490.70 billion during the same period, the KSD said. This was driven by a buying spree of U.S. stocks last year. Ample market liquidity led Korean investors to purchase more stocks from the world's largest economy, the KSD data showed. They held a record amount of U.S. stocks worth $67.78 billion in 2021, up 81.5 percent from a year earlier. This was equal to 87 percent of their total overseas stock holdings.By markets, the U.S. also topped the list. Korean investors' holdings of overseas securities on the top five markets ― the U.S., Europe, Hong Kong, Japan and Chi

Feb 3, 2022

Korean investors hold record-high foreign securities in 2021: KSD

Macquarie PE aims to recoup LG CNS stake investment

Macquarie Group headquarters in Sydney, Australia / YonhapBy Anna J. ParkMacquarie Korea Opportunities Fund, a closed private equity fund (PEF), aims to retrieve parts of its capital invested into LG CNS through recapitalization, after two years of holding 35 percent of the shares in LG Group's IT solutions affiliate. According to the investment banking industry earlier this week, the private equity firm recently sent out a request for proposal (RFP) soliciting bids from major banks and securities firms regarding the recap of its 35 percent stake. Macquarie Korea acquired the stake from LG Corporation in 2020 at a price of 950 billion won ($787 million). Over 63 percent of the money, or some 600 billion won, was raised by acquisition financing at an interest rate of around 3 percent. Through the recapitalization ― a financing technique of restructuring a company's debt and equity mixture to either obtain new capital or stabilize the company's capital structure ― the PEF plans to retrieve most of the 600 billion won. LG CNS' positive year-on-year growth backed up the PEF's ambitious

Feb 3, 2022By Anna J. Park

Macquarie PE aims to recoup LG CNS stake investment

Internet-only K-Bank logs 1st profit in 2021 since launch

K-bank headquarters in Seoul / YonhapK-Bank, a Korean internet-only bank, on Thursday reported its first profit since its launch in 2017 thanks to a sharp increase in customers and interest income.Net profit came to 22.4 billion won ($18.6 million) in 2021, a turnaround from a loss of 105.4 billion won a year earlier, according to the company's interim earnings report.This marked the first annual net profit that the internet-only bank has posted since it was launched in 2017. K-Bank is controlled by a consortium of telecom giant KT Corp., Woori Bank and other companies.The 2021 earnings stemmed mostly from a surge in the number of its customers and increased interest income.K-Bank said the number of its customers came to 7.17 million as of end-December, up about 5 million compared with a year earlier.Their deposits at the bank totaled 11.32 trillion won at the end of last year, sharply up from 3.75 trillion won a year earlier. Its outstanding loans also jumped from 2.99 trillion won to 7.09 trillion won over the cited period.K-Bank earned 198 billion won in interest income last year,

Feb 3, 2022

Internet-only K-Bank logs 1st profit in 2021 since launch

Hana, Woori speed up selection of new CEOs

By Yi Whan-wooHana Financial Group and Woori Bank are speeding up their respective efforts to pick their new CEOs, possibly within this month, according to sources familiar with the matter, Wednesday.Hana Financial picked 11 nominees in early January and has shortlisted five candidates ― three internal and two external ― as of Jan. 28, any of whom could replace Chairman Kim Jung-tae, who is set to retire after a 10-year term.The five shortlisted candidates are: Hana Financial Group Co-Vice Chairman Ham Young-joo, Hana Bank CEO Park Sung-ho, Hana Capital CEO Yoon Kyu-seon, former Bain and Company chief Lee Sung-yong and former Korea Investment Corp. Chairman Choi Hee-nam.Hana Financial Group Co-Vice Chairman Ham Young-joo / Korea Times fileIt is believed that the company will finalize its decision by Feb. 25 at the latest.Woori Bank is among Woori Financial Group's eight affiliates that will each select a new chief in accordance with the results of the candidate recommendation committee meeting held on Jan. 27 and 28.The bank is at the center of attention because it is the major busin

Feb 2, 2022By Yi Whan-woo

Hana, Woori speed up selection of new CEOs

Record trade deficit prompts concerns over capital flight

Korea suffers record shortfall in January amid supply chain crisisBy Yi Whan-wooKorea suffered its largest-ever monthly trade deficit in January due to a spike in prices of oil and raw materials caused by the global supply chain crisis, spawning fears over a further depreciation of the Korean won against the U.S. dollar and subsequent outflow of foreign capital.The trade shortfall stood at $4.89 billion, up sharply from $450 million in December when the country's trade balance shifted to the red after staying in the black for 19 consecutive months. This is the first two-month trade deficit since the global financial crisis in 2008. The trade deficit in January exceeds the previous record of $4.04 billion posted in January 2008. It was the largest monthly deficit the government has recorded in the time it has been compiling related data, which started in 1966.Ukrainian service members of the Air Assault Forces attend military drills in the country's Lviv region, in this handout picture released on Feb. 1. The Ukraine-Russia crisis is feared to be adding to the energy price hike that i

Feb 2, 2022By Yi Whan-woo

Record trade deficit prompts concerns over capital flight

LGES expects more money influx with MSCI index inclusion

LG Energy Solution CEO Kwon Young-soo speaks during the company's listing ceremony held at Korea Exchange (KRX)'s Seoul Building located on Yeouido on Jan. 27, when the firm's shares debuted on the KOSPI. NewsisBy Anna J. Park As LG Energy Solution (LGES) is slated to be included in two MSCI indexes ― the MSCI Emerging Markets (EM) Index and the MSCI Korea Index ― by mid-February, the global battery maker's stocks are expected to enjoy a massive influx of global passive funds. The world's second-largest secondary battery maker is set to be included in the indexes after closing on Feb. 14, and LGES is expected to take up about 0.11 percent of the MSCI EM Index and 1 percent of the MSCI Korea Index.Given than about 95 percent of U.S.-based mutual funds track the MSCI index, the company's inclusion in the indexes signals a possible stock price surge. Market analysts estimate that up to 690 billion won ($570 million) worth of global passive funds will flow into the stock.“It is being calculated that LGES' stock will see an influx of about 690 billion won upon its inclusion in the i

Feb 2, 2022By Anna J. Park

LGES expects more money influx with MSCI index inclusion

Banks protest regulators' call to expand bad debt allowance

In this Nov. 3, 2021 file photo, Financial Supervisory Service Governor Jeong Eun-bo speaks at a meeting with the leaders of financial holding firms here in Seoul. Joint Press Corps-YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungMajor financial groups are crying foul over regulators' pressure on banks to expand the allowance for bad debt, as they fear the move will hamper the momentum for stock growth, an industry official said.Starting this year, bank shares soared on expectations of additional earnings growth thanks to the Bank of Korea's (BOK) unwavering signal for more rate hikes this year.But the growth of bank stocks hit a snag after the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) urged lenders to expand their bad debt allowances, citing possible economic shocks caused by soaring debt shouldered by households and the self-employed. The bad debt allowance refers to a provision that banks assemble to brace for scenarios in which some of their borrowed money cannot be retrieved.The pressure comes as a negative signal to the banks, as the regulatory pressure will end up reducing dividend offerings to their shareho

Feb 1, 2022By Lee Min-hyung

Banking & Finance