SEOUL, June 2 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s major companies saw their profitability sink to a 10-year low in 2019 amid an economic slowdown, data showed Tuesday. The average operating margin of the country’s 2,000 major listed companies came to 5.1 percent last year, down from 8.8 percent in 2018 and the lowest level since [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of gas stations in South Korea dropped for the fourth straight year in 2018 amid worsening profitability facing the industry, data showed Monday. As of end-December, 11,769 petrol stations were operational across the country, down 196 from a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Asiana Airlines Inc. will transform itself into a passenger carrier that mainly provides service on long-haul routes to better boost profitability, the company’s president said Tuesday. For the past three decades, the country’s second-biggest full-service carrier by sales has focused on short and medium-haul routes mainly heading to Asian [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. fell far behind global rivals in profitability last year due to a strong won and declining sales in China and the United States, industry sources said Sunday. For the whole of 2017, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors posted operating profit [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s top 30 conglomerates have seen their sales growth and profitability worsen over the past six years amid increased costs, a report showed Thursday. Per capita sales of 164 listed companies belonging to the leading business groups fell at an annual average rate of 1.8 percent between 2011 [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean carmakers posted lackluster profitability over the first half of 2017, industry data showed Sunday, falling far behind major overseas rivals. Top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co.’s first-half operating margin was 5.4 percent, down 1.2 percentage points from a year earlier, industry data showed. Its sister company Kia Motors [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean companies saw the lowest on-year sales growth in more than five years in the third quarter of this year as unfavorable currency exchange rates and weakening oil prices hit exporters, central bank data showed Friday, raising concerns over their flagging growth potential. Sales growth at 1,670 local [...]