Business - The Korea Times

KB wins eco-friendly award

KB Financial Group headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of KB Financial GroupBy Lee Min-hyungKB Financial Group Yoon Jong-kyooKB Financial Group has won a renowned eco-friendly award for the third consecutive year in recognition of its efforts to fulfill eco-friendly management, the financial holding firm said Tuesday.According to the company, the group was named for the “Carbon Management Sector Honors” in the financial sector from the Carbon Disclosure Project's (CDP) 2019 Climate Change assessment. The CDP is a nonprofit organization based in the United Kingdom which discloses environmental information of major companies.In March, KB Financial Group established an environmental, social and governance (ESG) committee ― headed by its Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo ― to be more responsible for eco-friendly management. All board members of the company have since joined the committee.“KB Financial Group will stand at the forefront of protecting the environment by coping swiftly with climate change and fulfilling the ESG management,” an official from the firm said. “W

Apr 28, 2020By Lee Min-hyung

Teleconference of sovereign wealth funds

Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) CEO Choi Hee-nam speaks with heads of sovereign wealth funds and global investment firms at the KIC headquarters in Seoul, Monday, via a teleconference hosted by the Russian Direct Investment Fund. They discussed countermeasures against the COVID-19 pandemic and shared investment strategies. / Courtesy of KIC

Apr 28, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk

Teleconference of sovereign wealth funds

Kakao Bank gears up for IPO

Kakao Bank CEO Yun Ho-young speaks during an online press conference at the internet lender's office in Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of Kakao BankInternet lender launches series of credit cardsBy Kim Bo-eunKakao Bank's chief said Monday it will begin administrative preparations for an IPO in the latter half of this year."In order for Kakao Bank's sustainable growth, we need more capital investments, and we will seek to go public to keep to regulations as we see a growth in assets," CEO Yun Ho-young said in a press conference, which was held online amid the COVID-19 pandemic."We plan to begin administrative preparations for an IPO in the second half of the year," he said.The CEO did not provide a timeline for the planned IPO, citing variables including market circumstances.His remarks on the highly anticipated IPO comes after the internet bank posted its first annual surplus last year, and secured over 10 million users in two years since its launch in July 2017. Its assets came to 22.7 trillion won as of 2019. Yet the lender's assets and net profit still fall largely short of those of ma

Apr 27, 2020By Kim Bo-eun

Kyobo Life to boost AI-based mobile services

Kyobo Life Insurance COO Yun Your-hyun, left, poses with Kakao Enterprise CEO Baek Sang-yeop, after the two companies signed a partnership on AI technology, at Kyobo's headquarters in Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of Kyobo Life InsuranceBy Kim Bo-eunKyobo Life Insurance said Monday it will strengthen its mobile-based services by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI). This will be based on its partnership with Kakao Enterprise, the unit of IT giant Kakao focused on AI technology. The two signed a partnership at Kyobo's headquarters in Seoul the same day.The insurer said the partnership is part of "Digital Kyobo 2020," a plan to incorporate AI technology into insurance processes and boost customers' utilization of mobile-based services after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.Based on the partnership, Kyobo is aiming to incorporate AI chatbots to deal with customer inquiries. Customers will be able to ask about insurance on Kakao Talk 24/7.Kyobo also plans to discuss with Kakao Enterprise ways to improve its internal communication system. "The spread of the untact culture due to COVID-19 will acc

Apr 27, 2020By Kim Bo-eun

Kyobo Life to boost AI-based mobile services

Listing corporate bonds in Cambodia

Phnom Penh Commercial Bank (PPCBank) President Shin Chang-moo, left, and Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) CEO Hong Sok Hour hold a copy of PPCBank's corporate bonds at the CSX building in Phnom Penh, April 21. The bank listed its first corporate bonds worth $10 million on the exchange. JB Financial Group, the owner of PPCBank, said Monday its subsidiary became the first Korean-owned financial company to issue corporate bonds in Cambodia. / Courtesy of JB Financial Group

Apr 27, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk

KB Kookmin Card enters Thai market

KB Kookmin Card CEO Lee Dong-cheol holds a copy of an agreement at the company's head office in Seoul, Monday, after signing the agreement with Jaymart Group Chairman Adisak Sukumvitaya via an online meeting to acquire a 50.99 percent stake in J Fintech. / Courtesy of KB Kookmin CardBy Park Jae-hyukKB Kookmin Card will be the first Korean credit card company in Thailand in the area of retail finance.The card issuing arm of KB Financial Group said Monday it signed a share subscription agreement to acquire a 50.99 percent stake in J Fintech, a Jaymart subsidiary operating credit and auto loan businesses in the Southeast Asian country, for 650 million baht ($20 million).Founded in 2011, J Fintech holds 151.6 billion won ($123 million) in assets and has 18 networks with 130 employees as of the end of last year. It posted a 2.6 billion won net profit in 2019.KB Kookmin Card said it signed the deal via an online meeting as both Korea and Thailand have restricted travel protocols in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.The card firm plans to include J Fintech as a subsidiary by the end of thi

Apr 27, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk

Hyundai Motor Securities enjoys earnings surprise in Q1

By Kim Bo-eunHyundai Motor Securities enjoyed an earnings surprise in the first quarter of this year, despite difficult circumstances for brokerages amid the coronavirus pandemic, the firm said.The brokerage reported an operating profit of 33.1 billion won, a 17.7 percent growth from the same period a year earlier. It is more than triple the figure of the previous quarter.The securities firm posted a net profit of 24.6 billion won, up 20.7 percent from a year before. The net profit also saw over 300 percent growth quarter-on-quarter.According to the brokerage, its retail and bond businesses drove the growth in earnings.Profit from trading on consignment surged, based on the growth in trading as new investors joined the movement to buy stocks amid the coronavirus-triggered stock market plunge last month.Hyundai Motor Securities said its retail division has remained strong, as it has maintained its offline branches and boosted mobile trading services. This compares to other brokerages, which have been scaling down their offline branches since 2016.According to the brokerage, its retire

Apr 26, 2020By Kim Bo-eun

Hyundai Motor Securities enjoys earnings surprise in Q1

Woori to inject 6.3 trillion won into innovative startups this year

By Kim Bo-eunSon Tae-seungWoori Financial Group said Sunday it will inject a total of 6.3 trillion won into promising startups this year in a bid to foster the country's innovative growth.The group also decided to introduce a new corporate credit review system with more emphasis on firms' growth potential over the size of assets they own.The plan was discussed at a meeting of the group's committee on innovative finance. Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung heads the committee comprised of CEOs of the group's affiliates.The committee was drawn up to provide loans and investments for startups, including fintech firms. It also seeks to improve the existing system for loans. Woori Financial plans to provide a total of 6 trillion won in loans for promising firms. It provided 2.53 trillion won in technology financing in the first quarter of this year alone. Technology financing refers to extending loans to firms based on promising technology they own.In terms of investment, the group aims to pour in a total of 320 billion won, which is up 100 billion won from last year. The group s

Apr 26, 2020By Kim Bo-eun

Woori to inject 6.3 trillion won into innovative startups this year

Shinhan widens gap with KB in Q1 earnings

Fitch revises outlook on banks to negativeBy Park Jae-hyukShinhan Financial Group has widened the gap with its rival KB Financial Group, posting a 932.4 billion won ($757 million) net profit in the first quarter, up 1.5 percent from a year earlier, its regulatory filing showed Sunday.In contrast, KB suffered a 13.7 percent drop to 729.5 billion won in its first-quarter earnings, due to the growing volatility in the financial market sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic.Shinhan's outcome was an earnings surprise exceeding the market estimation of 868.5 billion won. It attributed the satisfactory earnings to its acquisition of the remaining 41 percent stake in Orange Life Insurance and several one-off factors.In their benchmark banking business, Shinhan gained 626.5 billion won, while KB earned 586.3 billion won.Their gap was especially wide in the brokerage sector, as KB Securities turned a loss, suffering a 21.4 billion won net loss over the sharp ups and downs of global equity-linked securities (ELS). Although Shinhan Investment showed a 34.1 percent year-on-year decline, it gained 46.7

Apr 26, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk

Shinhan widens gap with KB in Q1 earnings

CEO Watch Meritz gears up to challenge big 4 insurers

By Kim Bo-eunMeritz Fire & Marine CEO Kim Yong-beomMeritz Fire & Marine Insurance is drawing attention after it posted a dramatic growth in earnings last year, amid the poor performance of the industry. Eyes are on whether CEO Kim Yong-beom will be able to challenge the order of the big four non-life insurers.Meritz posted a net profit of 301.3 billion won in 2019, a 28.4 percent growth from a year earlier. The big four players leading the industry ― Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Hyundai, DB and KB ― each saw their net profits fall by 39.5 percent, 28 percent, 27.9 percent and 10 percent in 2019, respectively, from the previous year.Meritz's net profit in 2019 surged 162.5 percent from five years earlier in 2014. This is attributed to the strong leadership of CEO Kim Yong-beom, who assumed his position in 2015.Boosted by Meritz's growth in earnings, Kim is aiming to secure the insurer's position among the top players in the industry. Meritz has long ranked fifth.Under Kim's leadership, Meritz's market share in terms of premium income has steadily grown from 7.9 percent

Apr 23, 2020By Kim Bo-eun

Banking & Finance