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    SK hynix overtakes Samsung in market value amid AI-driven chip boom

    SK hynix overtook Samsung Electronics to claim the top position on KOSPI by market capitalization on Monday, ending Samsung's reign of 25 years and seven months as the benchmark index's most valuable listed company. KOSPI, meanwhile, edged higher to close above the 9,100 mark, setting a new record high on a closing basis. According to the Korea Exchange, SK hynix recorded a market capitalization of about 2,080.38 trillion won ($1.35 trillion), surpassing Samsung Electronics’ 2,066.66 trillion won by about 13.72 trillion won on a closing price basis. Samsung Electronics first claimed KOSPI's top spot by market capitalization on July 29, 1999, and had maintained its dominance uninterrupted since Nov. 21, 2000. The change at the top comes amid a rally in the semiconductor sector fueled by surging demand tied to the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. While both Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have benefited from the trend, SK hynix has delivered markedly stronger stock performance, ending Samsung's long-standing reign as the market's most valuable company. Samsung's shares have risen nearly

    3 MIN READBy Jun Ji-hye
    SK hynix overtakes Samsung in market value amid AI-driven chip boom
  • Economy

    InterviewHow Korea can turn its chip boom into lasting strength

    3 MIN READBy Lee Yeon-woo
    How Korea can turn its chip boom into lasting strength
  • Policy

    Concentration in chips 'natural'; efforts to improve foreigners' market access underway: KRX chief

    2 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Concentration in chips 'natural'; efforts to improve foreigners' market access underway: KRX chief
  • Economy

    Watchdog launches probe into Mirae Asset Securities over SpaceX IPO allocation debacle

    3 MIN READBy Park Han-sol
    Watchdog launches probe into Mirae Asset Securities over SpaceX IPO allocation debacle
  • Economy

    Over 200 stocks face delisting as penny stock crackdown kicks off in July

    2 MIN READBy Lee Hyo-jin
    Over 200 stocks face delisting as penny stock crackdown kicks off in July
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Economy

IT, bio Kosdaq shares to benefit from National Pension Service investment

NPS CEO Kim Yong-jin / Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-min The portfolio of the National Pension Service (NPS), the world's third-largest pension fund with assets of over 883 trillion won ($769 billion) under management, will be expanded to add 50 companies listed on the Kosdaq, Korea's tech-heavy secondary stock market, industry sources said Monday.This is part of the pension fund's efforts to introduce a new benchmark and diversify an investment portfolio long criticized as placing too much weight on leading, large-cap shares on the benchmark Kospi, despite booming tech industries that are being increasingly recognized by global investors.A benchmark in finance terminology is an index followed by institutional investors when they set a target yield, functioning as a basket of shares to be chosen by fund managers for a certain minimum amount of profit. When the new benchmark will be applied has not been decided yet.The investment in the 50 companies to be added will not be managed by the pension fund, but by asset and fund managers it selects.But the expansion into the small-cap market

Jul 19, 2021By Lee Kyung-min
IT, bio Kosdaq shares to benefit from National Pension Service investment
Economy

Budget carriers raising funds to ride out 4th wave of pandemic

Aircraft owned by low-cost carriers are parked at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul in this July 2020 file photo. YonhapBy Park Jae-hyukDomestic low-cost carriers are going all out to draw investments to cope with snowballing losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to prevent the government from revoking their licenses due to capital impairment, their regulatory filings showed Monday.T'way Air could avoid capital impairment after raising 80 billion won ($70 million) in April by selling 31.8 million newly issued stocks to W Value-up, a special purpose vehicle established by JKL Partners, a local private equity firm (PEF).Air Premia, a new budget carrier that seeks to launch flights between Gimpo and Jeju, has relied on JC Partners, another domestic PEF that formed a consortium with logistics provider Korchina, to invest up to 65 billion won in the airline. The consortium has injected 37 billion won into Air Premia so far.Jeju Air, Air Busan and Fly Gangwon are also trying to raise capital to avoid their total capital becoming less than the par value of their capital stocks.Jeju

Jul 19, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk
Budget carriers raising funds to ride out 4th wave of pandemic
Economy

Number of discouraged workers hits fresh high in June

gettyimagesbankThe number of discouraged workers in South Korea hit a new monthly high in June amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Monday.Asia's fourth-largest economy had 583,000 discouraged workers, up 46,000 from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.It was the largest tally for June since related data tracking began in 2014. The number has also renewed monthly highs for the 16th straight month.Discouraged workers refer to those who are currently unemployed and have not sought to find jobs in the last four weeks due to no suitable job options or other reasons, though they are eligible for employment and are willing to work, with the experience of having looked for jobs in the past year.The increase in the number of discouraged workers is seen as resulting from the flaccid labor market due to the fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak.South Koreans in their 20s and 30s accounted for 46.8 percent of the total discouraged workers, with people aged 60 and older taking up 28.6 percent, 8.2 percentage points higher than a year earlier.The of

Jul 19, 2021
Number of discouraged workers hits fresh high in June
Economy

GS fills Shinsegae's place in M&A market

GS Group headquarters in Seoul / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Park Jae-hyukGS Group is drawing attention in the domestic M&A market, because the conglomerate has been mentioned as the potential buyer of Hugel and Yogiyo, while Shinsegae Group decided to step away from these huge acquisition deals in an apparent attempt to avoid financial difficulties, following its takeover of eBay Korea in June.On Friday, GS Retail confirmed that it is considering joining a consortium to acquire Yogiyo from Delivery Hero.The announcement was made in response to multiple news reports that the conglomerate's retail unit had joined hands with two private equity firms based abroad ― Affinity Equity Partners and Permira ― and has been in exclusive negotiations to take over the food delivery platform from the German company for 1 trillion won ($875 million).The announcement came as a surprise to many market insiders, because MBK Partners had been regarded as the strongest candidate to acquire Yogiyo, after Shinsegae's e-commerce arm, SSG.com, officially dropped out of the final bid in June.On

Jul 18, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk
GS fills Shinsegae's place in M&A market
Economy

Shinhan Bank stresses 'empathy' and 'meta-perception'

Jin Ok-dong, the CEO of Shinhan Bank, speaks during an online strategic management meeting, aired from the company's studio in central Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Shinhan BankBy Anna J. ParkShinhan Bank CEO Jin Ok-dong emphasized the importance of empathy and meta-perception, or the ability to view one's self from the perspective of other people, as key aspects for achieving the bank's strategic management goals during the second half of this year. “When a clear sense of the meta-perception towards oneself is firmly rooted, empathy based on that sense can grow, enabling one to communicate with customers as well as society,” Jin said during an online strategy meeting, broadcast to the company's over 3,000 employees, Friday.The meeting on management based on empathy and meta-perception also highlighted a strategic vision for the second half of the year. “The beginning of empathy is meta-perception, an objective stance about oneself,” Jin said. “Better value can be created when employee empathy contributes to the direction that the organization is heading in

Jul 18, 2021By Anna J. Park
Shinhan Bank stresses 'empathy' and 'meta-perception'
Economy

Kakao Bank, KakaoPay face bumpy road ahead in IPOs

Seen above is Kakao's signature character, Ryan. Courtesy of KakaoFSS, Yuanta, Morgan Stanley raise questions about valuationBy Park Jae-hyukKakao's ambitious plans to list Kakao Bank and KakaoPay on the benchmark KOSPI market in August are facing growing doubts recently from financial regulators and securities analysts, who regard the valuations of the IT firm and its financial subsidiaries as overestimated.On Friday, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) asked KakaoPay to correct its prospectus, submitted July 2, saying that the document may hinder reasonable investments or cause a serious misunderstanding for investors.“As a result, the overall stock issuance schedule may change, so we hope investors take this into account,” KakaoPay said in its regulatory filing.The mobile payment service provider was planning to go public on Aug. 12.Selecting three foreign financial platform operators ― America's PayPal, Square and Brazil's PagSeguro ― as its comparable companies, it has sought to price its stock at somewhere between 63,000 won ($55) and 96,000 won, so that its mar

Jul 18, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk
Kakao Bank, KakaoPay face bumpy road ahead in IPOs
Economy

Centroid's acquisition of TaylorMade hits snag

TaylorMade's logoLocal PEF might delay payments for TaylorMade acquisition By Anna J. ParkLocal private equity firm (PEF) Centroid Investment Partners' acquisition of global golf brand TaylorMade has hit an unexpected snag, as Centroid faces the possibility of delayed payments for the acquisition process. According to the investment banking (IB) industry, Centroid's M&A fund formation has been delayed, as a few institutional investors have backed out of their initial investment plans, which were originally to join a mezzanine fund, a hybrid of debt and equity financing. Out of the PEF's plan to raise 2.1 trillion won ($1.84 billion) for the acquisition financing, the plan is said to be still short around 300 billion won. Given that Centroid signed a deal a few months ago to purchase all 100 percent of TaylorMade's stakes at 1.8 trillion won, the reason why they plan to raise the 300 billion won more than the required money is to secure interest payments as well as other necessary underwriting charges surrounding the acquisition. As Centroid is set to pay the money for the deal by

Jul 18, 2021By Anna J. Park
Centroid's acquisition of TaylorMade hits snag
Economy

Social distancing, minimum wage hike drive small businesses to brink

Only three customers dine at a restaurant in Incheon on July 12, the first day of the Level 4 social distancing measures. YonhapBy Yoon Ja-youngWith the COVID-19 pandemic continuing for more than a year now, there seems to be no way out for small business owners. The recent re-imposition of strengthened social distancing measures amid a fourth wave of the pandemic, and the increase in the minimum wage, are adding to their concerns. “Most of the evening customers used to come in groups of three or four. I have been maintaining the business thanks to our loyal customers, but I don't think things will be sustainable if the Level 4 distancing measures continue,” said Ji who runs a restaurant on Yeouido, Seoul.The government had originally planned to ease social distancing starting July 1 to help small businesses get back on track by increasing the number of people allowed at private gatherings from four to six in the Seoul metropolitan area, and extending the operating hours of restaurants and cafes to 12 a.m. from 10 p.m. The plan, however, has been postponed indefinitely af

Jul 17, 2021By Yoon Ja-young
Social distancing, minimum wage hike drive small businesses to brink
Economy

Glass ceiling still thick in state-run organizations

gettyimagesbankBy Lee Kyung-min Fewer than one in four director-level positions were held by women at state-run organizations as of March, a study showed Friday.According to a survey conducted by the First CEO Networks of Korea, which analyzed reports uploaded on “All Public Information in One” (commonly known as “ALIO”), a finance ministry-operated website providing management information on Korea's 350 state-run and quasi-governmental entities, of 132 state-run entities, only 22 percent of the high-ranking positions were held by women. This figure is a slight quarter-on-quarter increase of 0.1 percent from 21.9 percent in December of last year. The ratio of men-to-women for low- and entry-level employees was close to 1 to 1, but the figure rapidly rose as they neared promotion opportunities following decades of experience.Out of the 132 state-run organizations, four had not even one high-level female official, including LetsRun Corp., Kangwon Land, Korea National Park and the Korea Press Foundation.In the case of the Korea Press Foundation, 12 of the 20 job

Jul 16, 2021By Lee Kyung-min
Glass ceiling still thick in state-run organizations
Economy

Chip stocks sluggish despite solid earnings

By Lee Min-hyungKorea's major semiconductor stocks remain sluggish despite solid earnings, due to their relatively weak performance in the non-memory chip business, analysts said. However, they expect chip stocks to bounce back in the second half of this year, predicting further earnings growth in the coming quarters. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are two of the nation's largest companies by market capitalization. Their major cash cow is memory chip sales, which have driven their robust second-quarter earnings.In a preliminary earnings report, Samsung Electronics achieved 12.5 trillion won ($10.96 billion) in operating profit during the April-June period, up 53.4 percent from the previous year, riding on the so-called semiconductor chip super-cycle, thanks to heavy chip demand. The quarterly earnings were the highest since the third quarter of 2018.But as the earnings were heavily reliant on the sales of memory chips ― such as DRAM and NAND flash semiconductors ― Samsung's stock price has failed to achieve a meaningful rebound, according to market experts.The stock price of Samsun

Jul 16, 2021By Lee Min-hyung
Chip stocks sluggish despite solid earnings
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