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  • Companies

    Will Homeplus liquidation decision be postponed again?

    Homeplus has submitted an amended rehabilitation plan just three days before a court deadline, but its failure to secure a crucial 200 billion won ($129 million) capital injection is increasing uncertainty over whether the troubled retailer will face liquidation, industry sources said Wednesday. The Seoul Bankruptcy Court will now assess the feasibility of the revised proposal to determine whether to continue with rescue proceedings or dissolve the company. Although the current deadline expires this Friday, expectations are rising that the court will defer the date once more to review the new submission. The country’s second-largest retail chain, controlled by private equity firm MBK Partners, filed for corporate rehabilitation on March 4 last year after struggling with financial difficulties and facing credit rating downgrades. The original deadline for court approval of its rehabilitation plan was March 4 this year, but the court first extended it to May 4 before granting an additional extension until this Friday. Bankruptcy law dictates that a rehabilitation scheme must receive appr

    3 MIN READBy Jun Ji-hye
    Will Homeplus liquidation decision be postponed again?
  • Companies

    Renault Korea's June sales plunge 45 % on weak demand

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Renault Korea's June sales plunge 45 % on weak demand
  • Companies

    GM Korea's June sales rise 6.6% on robust overseas demand

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    GM Korea's June sales rise 6.6% on robust overseas demand
  • Companies

    Hyundai Motor's global sales down in June on weaker demand

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Hyundai Motor's global sales down in June on weaker demand
  • Companies

    JoongAng Ilbo puts controlling rights up for sale amid creditor workout

    1 MIN READBy Jung Min-ho
    JoongAng Ilbo puts controlling rights up for sale amid creditor workout
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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

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Companies

Samsung memory earnings plunge on HBM export ban to China

Samsung Electronics’ memory chip profit backpedaled in the first quarter following the U.S. ban on exporting high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators to China. This offset notable improvements in the company’s consumer electronics earnings and held down overall operating profit growth to just 1.2 percent year-on-year. With a tougher business environment expected for the second quarter due to Washington’s tariff measures, the company cast a worrisome view on memory chip demand in the second half. Samsung Electronics announced Wednesday that it posted an operating profit of 6.7 trillion won ($4.67 billion) in the first quarter, up 1.2 percent from a year earlier. Revenue stood at 79.14 trillion won, marking a 10.05 percent increase over the same period. This marks the highest quarterly revenue in Samsung Electronics’ history, driven by strong sales of the Galaxy S25 series and increased sales of high-value-added products in home appliance businesses. Among its business units, the Device Experience (DX) division, which includes smartphones, mobile dev

Apr 30, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
Samsung memory earnings plunge on HBM export ban to China
Companies

Convenience stores see first-ever quarterly sales decline amid weak consumer sentiment

Convenience stores posted a quarterly decline in sales for the first time, government data showed Tuesday. Analysts attribute the decline to market saturation — with nearly 55,000 stores nationwide — coupled with weakening consumer sentiment. According to data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, sales at convenience stores in the first quarter of 2025 declined by 0.4 percent compared to the same period last year. This marks the first quarterly contraction since record-keeping began in 2013. The main factor behind the decline is market saturation. Last year, the total number of stores operated by Korea's four major convenience store chains — CU, GS25, 7-Eleven and Emart24 — dropped to 54,835, marking the first decline since the industry’s inception in 1988. Nevertheless, there remains roughly one store for every 1,000 people. Sluggish domestic demand also contributed to the downturn. The Bank of Korea's data showed that the consumer confidence index fell to 93.8 in April, remaining below the long-term average of 100 for the fifth consecutive month. The rise of other

Apr 30, 2025By Lee Yeon-woo
Convenience stores see first-ever quarterly sales decline amid weak consumer sentiment
Companies

InterviewK-drama fan from Stuttgart helps strengthen Korean-German economic ties

Being a big K-drama fan who can read, write and speak Korean, Marie Antonia von Schonburg is now facing the tall task of helping German companies doing business here navigate political and economic uncertainty, both domestically and globally. The public relations expert, who grew up in the German industrial city of Stuttgart, started leading the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KGCCI) on April 1. When von Schonburg started her tenure, massive political rallies near the Constitutional Court were still taking place on her way to the KGCCI office near Cheong Wa Dae, the former official residence and office of Korea's presidents until 2022. "Something I keep joking about is that wherever I go, there's political turmoil," von Schonburg told The Korea Times in a recent interview. "When I went to Catalonia, the Catalan independence movement started. Six weeks after I went to Sri Lanka, the [Sri Lankan] president was thrown out. Five days after I came to Korea, the [Korean] president was impeached." Before her appointment as the president and CEO of the second-largest foreign cham

Apr 30, 2025By Park Jae-hyuk
K-drama fan from Stuttgart helps strengthen Korean-German economic ties
Tech & Science

Krafton again shatters quarterly earnings record in Q1

Game studio Krafton again shattered its quarterly earnings record in the first quarter of this year, facilitating double-digit growth in both revenue and operating profit. The PUBG: Battlegrounds operator announced Tuesday it logged 874.2 billion won ($608.56 million) in sales and 457.3 billion won in operating profit, both on a consolidated basis. The numbers represent a 31.3 percent and 47.3 percent year-on-year increase. Krafton shattered its own quarterly earnings record just six months after it posted 719.3 billion won in sales and 324.4 billion won in operating profit in the third quarter of last year. By segment, the PC, mobile and console divisions recorded sales of 323.5 billion won, 532.4 billion won and 18.3 billion won, respectively. The company explained that the diversification of its PUBG intellectual property (IP) and strong live service operations have led to the growth of PC sales, and the early success of its new title inZOI also contributed. In the mobile segment, record-breaking sales were supported by premium item offerings, IP collaborations and localization strateg

Apr 29, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
Krafton again shatters quarterly earnings record in Q1
Companies

Samsung Electro-Mechanics' Q1 earnings brisk on MLCC expansion

Samsung Electro-Mechanics posted solid numbers in the first quarter of this year, driven by brisk sales in its flagship multi-layer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) business. The component company announced Tuesday that it posted 2.74 trillion won ($1.91 billion) in sales in the first quarter of the year, up 4.8 percent from a year earlier. Operating profits stood at 200.6 billion won, up 9.2 percent during the same period. Its component division, which includes MLCC, showed a 19 percent year-on-year growth in sales to reach 1.22 trillion won in the first quarter. The company said this was driven by the launch of the flagship smartphones, Samsung Electronics' Galaxy series, and the increased supply of high-value-added MLCCs for industrial and automotive applications, including artificial intelligence (AI) servers. The package division posted sales of 499.4 billion won, up 17 percent from a year earlier, buoyed by an increase in the supply of ball grid arrays (BGAs) for mobile application processors and memory. BGA is a semiconductor package substrate, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics manufactures

Apr 29, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo
Samsung Electro-Mechanics' Q1 earnings brisk on MLCC expansion
Companies

AnalysisHanwha Ocean stocks pressured by KDB share sale overhang

Hanwha Ocean's stock price is likely to be weighed down by pressure from the Korea Development Bank's (KDB) plan to sell its 19.5 percent stake, analysts said Tuesday. Following the announcement of KDB's stake sale plan, the shipbuilder's shares closed at 78,500 won ($55), plummeting by 12.09 percent, while the country's benchmark KOSPI rose by 0.65 percent. The analysts attributed the drop to fears of a stock overhang as the state-owned development bank began selling its stake after 25 years of ownership. Stock overhang refers to a situation where a large volume of shares could enter the market, raising fears of future selling pressure and a weakening in investor confidence. According to sources in the investment banking industry, KDB signed an agreement to offload its 13 million shares — representing a 4.2 percent stake in Hanwha Ocean — through a block deal before the market opened on Tuesday morning. The sale price was set at 81,650 won per share, offering a discount of about 8.57 percent compared to the previous day's closing price of 89,300 won. The total transaction is valued a

Apr 29, 2025By Lee Yeon-woo
Hanwha Ocean stocks pressured by KDB share sale overhang
Companies

HYBE posts record Q1 sales on booming concert business

HYBE, the K-pop powerhouse behind BTS, reported a 50 percent year-on-year rise in its operating profit for the January-March period, largely driven by its artists' expanded global tour activities, the company said Tuesday. Sales rose 38.7 percent to a record 500.6 billion won ($348 million) for the quarter, marking its highest first-quarter performance ever. Net profit surged nearly 400 percent to 55.3 billion won. The company attributed the strong sales growth to active world tours and solo concerts by its artists, including BTS' J-Hope, Seventeen, TXT, Enhypen and Boynextdoor. HYBE emphasized the significance of its achievement, as the first quarter is traditionally a quieter period in the industry when artist typically recharge and prepare for new releases. The company also noted a growing roster of its groups has reached the scale and maturity needed to conduct successful world tours. During the first quarter, sales directly involving artists reached 322.5 billion won, accounting for 64 percent of total sales. While album and streaming sales saw a slight year-on-year dip, concert rev

Apr 29, 2025By Yonhap
HYBE posts record Q1 sales on booming concert business
Companies

New brand identity for QD-OLED tech

A model promotes Samsung Display's new logo of its quantum dot-OLED (QD-OLED) technology in this handout photo released Tuesday. The company said it will trademark the new logo and promote it as its new brand identity by showcasing it at major exhibitions and incorporating it into product packaging. Courtesy of Samsung Display

Apr 29, 2025By Ko Dong-hwanphoto
New brand identity for QD-OLED tech
Companies

Conglomerates struggle with EV charging profits amid sluggish demand

Major conglomerates face widening earnings falls in their electric vehicle (EV) charging businesses, as tepid sales growth for all-electric cars makes it harder for them to generate any immediate returns from the once-promising industry, according to data and industry officials, Tuesday. LG Electronics became the first to have decided to exit the business. The company tapped into the industry by acquiring HiEV Charger, formerly AppleMango, in 2022. It invested 41 billion won ($28.5 million) over the past three years but opted to drop the business amid its sequential losses of billions of won in the past two years. Other large firms, such as SK, Hyundai Motor, Shinsegae and Lotte, have also endured losses with their EV charging station businesses. SK Signet, which operates a global business specializing in ultra-fast EV charging, has suffered growing operating losses in recent years. The company reported an operating loss of 245.2 billion won last year, a 41 percent increase from the previous year. The 2024 loss is nearly three times as high as its sales during the same period. The earnin

Apr 29, 2025By Lee Min-hyung
Conglomerates struggle with EV charging profits amid sluggish demand
Companies

LS GreenLink's new US plant

LS Cable & System President & CEO Koo Bon-kyu, center, holds a new road sign for Chesapeake, Va., after receiving it from Chesapeake Mayor Rick West, right, during the groundbreaking ceremony for LS GreenLink's submarine cable manufacturing plant, Monday (local time). The new plant, to be operated by LS Cable & System's subsidiary, will be the largest of its kind in the United States and marks the Korean company's first manufacturing base in the U.S., according to the company. Courtesy of LS Cable & System

Apr 29, 2025By Ko Dong-hwanphoto
LS GreenLink's new US plant
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