June 13, 2021

• 
• 
• 

EDITOR'S PICKS

• Markets 
  

  Market watchers positive on SKT spinoff decision

  On SK Telecom’s key decision of spinning off a new investment company, market watchers have painted a rosy outlook for South Korea’s top wireless carrier on June 10. “The spinoff plan will boost (SK Telecom’s) corporate value. Under the spinoff to a telecom-focused investment holding firm with stable cash flow and dividends, its affiliated companies that were undervalued will likely be reevaluated,” said Ahn Jae-min, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities. Y

• Markets 
  

  Koramco to buy green office building in eastern Seoul

  Koramco REITs & Trust said Thursday that it has been selected as the preferred bidder to buy an eco-friendly office building in eastern Seoul through its new blind pool fund. The investment target, East Central Tower, is a 42-story building with six underground floors and 100,422 square meters of gross floor space. The 4-year-old building houses tenants including Samsung Electronics, Samsung Construction & Trading, Samsung Medison and Fila Holdings. The prime office building has empl

• Markets 
  

  NH Financial sets up W150b ESG fund tied to Green New Deal

  South Korea’s NH Financial Group said on June 10 that it has created an environmental, social and governance fund worth 150 billion won ($134 million) to finance projects tied to the Green New Deal initiative. According to NH, the “NH-Amundi Green New Deal Infra ESG Fund” will offer an alternative investment portfolio that focuses on exposure to both up-and-coming and less risky assets. Investments on hydrogen, fuel cell-related projects alongside solar and wind energies will

• Markets 
  

  FSC gives green light to Korea’s third mobile-only bank

  Toss Bank on June 9 received final approval from the Financial Services Commission to operate as the nation’s third mobile-only bank. Now that it has the green light, Toss is set to jump into South Korea’s fast-growing online banking market, currently dominated by KakaoBank and K bank. Toss Bank -- backed by Viva Republica, the operator of fintech app Toss -- will officially launch as early as September. Toss Bank will operate within the existing Toss app to take advantage of the a

• Markets 
  

  S. Korea’s per capita income shrinks for 2nd year in a row

  Per capita income in South Korea declined for the second year running in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic dragged the economy down to its lowest point since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, data showed June 9. Per capita annual income, as measured in US dollars, shrank last year to $31,881, down from $32,204 in 2019 and $33,564 in 2018, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea. The data came as Asia’s fourth-largest economy has started to recover from the blows dealt by the pa

• Markets 
  

  Korea’s only luxury goods ETF beats Kospi

  South Korea’s only exchange-traded fund that focuses on global luxury goods stocks has outperformed Korea’s benchmark index for the Korea Exchange’s main board, the Kospi, over the course of 13 months since its launch, data showed June 9. The product, the NH-Amundi Hanaro Global Luxury S&P ETF, has gained 78.1 percent since its launch May 12 last year through Tuesday, beating the Kospi, which gained 67.8 percent during the same period, according to data from NH-Amundi Ass

• Markets 
  

  LG Energy Solution seeks mega IPO on Kospi in H2

  South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution is speeding up efforts to make a stock market debut on the nation’s main bourse Kospi in the second half of this year, according to investment banking sources June 9. The company submitted a preliminary application for an initial public offering to the Korea Exchange on June 8. Market insiders say the firm may begin the share sale as early as September, in line with its timetable. While KB Securities and Morgan Stanley are underwriting the I

• Markets 
  

  AMC, Doosan Heavy, HMM: Meme stocks rise in Korea

  　 Retail investors in South Korea who are seeking short-term profit are increasingly investing in so-called meme stocks, those that see a spike in trading volume based on social media hype rather than the company’s performance. Data compiled by securities information portal SEIBro, operated by the Korea Securities Depository, showed Tuesday that small domestic investors traded US movie theater chain AMC shares the most in the overseas stock market last week. The value of AMC stock tra