SEOUL, May 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s top internet-only lender Kakao Bank said Wednesday its first-quarter net profit nearly tripled due mainly to increased interest income. Net profit came to 18.5 billion won (US$15.2 million) in the January-March period, up about 181 percent from a year earlier, the lender said in a regulatory filing. [...]
SEOUL, May 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Gold funds in South Korea have shined over the past three months on investors’ flight to safety amid the coronavirus pandemic, but oil funds have fared dismally on tumbling crude prices, a market tracker said Wednesday. The three-month average return of 12 local gold funds with assets of 1 [...]
SEOUL, May 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s labor productivity growth has sharply slowed over the past decade due partly to a lack of investment and innovation, a study suggested Monday. According to You Hye-mi, a professor from Seoul’s Hanyang University, the country’s labor productivity rose at an annual average of 2.67 percent between the [...]
SEOUL, May 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Overseas stock purchases by South Korean retail investors jumped to a record high level in April amid signs that the coronavirus outbreak is slowing down, data showed Friday. Korean retail investors bought US$2.01 billion worth of foreign stocks from April 1-27, marking the largest overseas stock buying on a [...]
SEOUL, April 28 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s credit card spending fell at the fastest rate ever last month, data showed Tuesday, amid the spread of the new coronavirus that continued to keep people away from unnecessary contact. In March, the amount of purchases using credit and debit cards dropped 4.3 percent from the same [...]
SEOUL, April 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign holdings of South Korean stocks reached a 13-month low, as offshore investors rushed for cash amid the prolonged coronavirus uncertainties, data showed Monday. Foreign investors held 468.2 trillion won (US$379.4 billion) worth of stocks traded on the main bourse as of Friday’s close, or 36.83 percent of the [...]
SEOUL, April 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Mobile trading has become a dominant investment tool in South Korea, propelled by retail investors’ stock rush, bourse operator said Thursday. The mobile trading system (MTS), or smartphone trading, took up the largest 47.6 percent of turnover in terms of trading tools from April 1-17, according to the data [...]
SEOUL, April 22 (Korea Bizwire) — Credit card loans in South Korea surged nearly 26 percent on-year in March as cash-strapped people rushed to borrow from card firms amid a prolonged coronavirus outbreak, industry data showed Wednesday. New loans extended by seven credit card firms — Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Woori, Hana, Samsung, Hyundai and Lotte [...]
SEOUL, April 21 (Korea Bizwire) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Tuesday that South Korea’s overall financial system appears resilient, but it warned of growing vulnerabilities. The IMF said most parts of South Korea’s banking system appear prudentially strong, but prospects for banks and insurers are dimming due to growth-related uncertainties, low interest rates, [...]
SEOUL, April 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreigners’ appetite for South Korean stocks is tipped to grow down the road due to the general election results from last week and improving situations over the new coronavirus here, analysts said Monday. Offshore investors turned net buyers on Friday, ending their selling spree totaling 14.7 trillion won (US$12.1 [...]