Hanwha Insurance’s Indonesian insurer extends record run

Lippo General Insurance, the Indonesian subsidiary of Hanwha General Insurance, posted record first-half earnings, extending its record-breaking run for a second straight year. The Jakarta-based insurer recorded revenue of 2.32 trillion rupiah ($131 million) in the January-June period, up 33.9 percent from 1.73 trillion rupiah a year earlier. Pretax profit rose 10.2 percent to 130.5 billion rupiah from 118.5 billion rupiah. Both revenue and pretax profit reached record highs for a half-year peri

2026-08-21 13:48:31:00

Fubon Hyundai Life swings to H1 profit on stronger earnings base

Fubon Hyundai Life, the Korean insurance arm of Taiwan's Fubon Life, swung to a net profit of 158.6 billion won ($113.8 million) in the first half of this year, on the back of improved investment performance and signs of a strengthening profit base, the company said Thursday. The insurer said its earnings were mainly driven by stronger asset management performance, noting that its investment strategies were tailored to changing financial market conditions. The return on invested assets rose to 5

2026-08-20 17:55:36:00

Woori completes Korean bank’s first offshore bond settlement

Woori Bank has become the first Korean bank to complete a government bond transaction with an overseas financial institution through an international securities settlement network, marking the first such transaction by a domestic bank since authorities opened the channel earlier this year. The bank said Thursday it sold and settled Korean Treasury bonds through an International Central Securities Depository while also conducting related foreign exchange and hedging transactions. ICSDs, including

2026-08-20 14:40:42:00

Koo courts US investors with Korea’s manufacturing, AI edge

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol laid out Korea's growth strategy for US business leaders in Seoul Wednesday, pitching the country's manufacturing and technology base as an opportunity for deeper investment and artificial intelligence cooperation while pledging continued financial-market reforms. The luncheon event, hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, brought together about 150 government officials and executives from Korean and international companies. I

2026-08-19 15:12:27:00

KB wins approval under Indonesia’s stricter holding rules

Indonesia’s tightening oversight of financial conglomerates is prompting major Korean financial groups to reorganize their local ownership structures. KB Kookmin Bank is the latest to secure approval for a holding-company transition. The change is expected to have little immediate impact on KB’s Indonesian operations. Industry officials view it primarily as a compliance measure as Jakarta imposes more centralized supervision and additional requirements on financial groups operating across multip

2026-08-19 14:36:53:00

Korea’s crypto outflows reflect product gap, not stablecoin gap: First Digital CEO

South Korea needs more than a won-denominated stablecoin to keep digital asset activity onshore, as more investors seek a wider range of products unavailable at home, according to Vincent Chok, CEO and co-founder of stablecoin issuer First Digital. "The starting point is the demand for the products themselves," Chok said in a recent written interview with The Korea Herald. First Digital is a digital asset financial services firm and the issuer of FDUSD, a dollar-backed stablecoin that sits among

2026-08-18 17:51:28:00

Kakao Bank to cancel its treasury shares amid pay dispute

Kakao Bank plans to cancel about half of its treasury shares and reserve the rest for employee compensation, a move that could serve both its shareholder-return goals and efforts to defuse an ongoing pay dispute. The internet-only lender said it planned to seek approval for its treasury share retention and disposal plan at its 2027 annual shareholders' meeting, with the 270,000 shares to be canceled within the legally required period. As of end-June, Kakao Bank held 532,334 treasury shares. The

2026-08-17 11:32:24:00

From rally to rerating: Can Korea make its premium last?

The Kospi has proved it can rally. The harder test is whether Korean companies can keep commanding higher valuations after the momentum fades. That challenge lies at the heart of Korea’s push to turn its decades-old “Korea discount” into a “Korea premium.” This year’s surge brought that goal closer, fueled by governance reform, stronger shareholder returns and a historic semiconductor earnings boom. But the summer correction exposed the rally’s narrow foundations. Samsung Electronics and SK hyni

2026-08-15 16:00:00:00

Samsung insurers earn W3.27tr, but growth paths diverge

Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance earned a combined 3.27 trillion won ($2.3 billion) in the first half, with both posting double-digit profit growth despite sharply different earnings drivers. Samsung Life reported 1.89 trillion won in net profit attributable to controlling shareholders, up 35.8 percent from a year earlier, according to disclosures released Thursday. Consolidated net profit rose 33.8 percent to 1.97 trillion won. Samsung Fire’s net profit attributable to

2026-08-13 15:21:45:00

Hanwha Life overseas profit nears full-year 2025 level

Hanwha Life Insurance said its major overseas businesses generated a combined net profit of 103 billion won ($72.7 million) in the first half, nearing the 117.8 billion won they earned for all of last year as its push to diversify beyond insurance began to pay off. The overseas operations accounted for about 11 percent of Hanwha Life's consolidated net profit of 904.5 billion won for the six-month period. Its Vietnamese life insurance unit posted 32 billion won in net profit, up 23 percent from

2026-08-12 17:03:31:00