Foreign investors are expected to scoop more than half of the coming dividends at Korea’s four major financial holdings companies this year, spurring concerns about capital flight in the industry increasingly tapped by foreign investors.A study by Daishin Securities Co. said Monday that 53 percent, or 1.24 trillion won ($1.17 billion), of the total net profit set aside as dividends at the four maj

July 18, 2011

Volkswagen AG, Europe’s biggest carmaker, said it expects to continue outperforming the auto market in the second half after posting a record 4.1 million deliveries in the first six months of the year.Sales of cars, sport-utility vehicles and vans at the company’s brands including the Audi luxury division and Czech unit Skoda rose 14 percent, VW said today in an e-mailed statement. Global industry

Mobility July 17, 2011

GM Korea, the third-largest carmaker in Korea, said it agreed Tuesday to give out a record bonus of 7 million won ($6,616) in additon to a 4.7 percent salary raise for its workers.“Management and the union were able to reach a compromise on Monday. But this is a tentative agreement which will be finalized tomorrow,” Kim Sung-soo, a spokesperson at the company said. “We need the majority (of the un

Industry July 13, 2011

Exports of Korean cars reached a record high in the first half of the year, benefiting from the demand drop for Japanese vehicles along with improving consumer sentiment abroad, data said Monday.A report by the Korea Customs Service said Asia’s fourth-largest economy exported $19.1 billion worth of cars in the January-June period, bagging 30.4 percent more revenue than a year earlier. In terms of

Industry July 11, 2011

The level of foreign debt is poised top $400 billion, complicating Seoul’s capital control efforts increasingly watched by major credit rating agencies abroad. Foreign debt in the first quarter May made the steepest hikes in three years, reaching $381.9 billion at the end of March. Noting an increase of $21.9 billion in just three months from December, the Finance Ministry predicted the figure to

July 11, 2011

Prosecutors are investigating Goldman Sachs Group on allegations that the investment bank defrauded local insurers Heungkuk Life Insurance and Heungkuk Fire & Marine Insurance.The Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office said Wednesday it was taking on complaints by the two insurers that the U.S. investment bank sold a high risk, high yielding investment product known as collateralized debt obli

July 6, 2011

The National Pension Service, the world’s largest public pension, is under fire for its alleged lack of supervision of its staff operating a huge fund after the nation’s top auditor found irregularities. The Board of Audit and Inspection said some NPS officials were found to have given business favors to brokerages with school background ties in exchange for entertainment and money.The public agen

July 6, 2011

The Fair Trade Commission on Tuesday gave the green light to the merger of the nation’s two biggest online retailers operating under EBay Inc., ruling that the combination would not hinder the industry’s level of competition.The watchdog’s approval of the Gmarket-Auction merger came after their parent EBay had applied for the deal in March. After studying the deal for three months, the FTC said th

July 5, 2011

Revised estimate comes after reduction in government’s growth projectionThe average level of revenue KOSPI-listed firms are expected to generate in the second half of the year dropped, stock analysis said Tuesday, raising concerns over a slower economic growth on weaker consumption and waning exports.The estimation of operating profits for 115 listed companies on KOSPI for the July-December period

July 5, 2011

Mirae Asset Global Investment, the largest mutual fund manager in the country, said it is in talks to take over Canada’s BetaPro Management Inc., an exchanged traded funds manager, the local brokerage said Monday.The mutual fund arm of the financial group said price or timing of the acquisition is yet to be finalized. The deal is widely expected to be valued at well over $100 million.“We’re consid

July 4, 2011

Toyota Motor Corp said it would recall about 114,000 hybrid cars in Japan, Europe and the United States because of faulty transistors in control boards.Toyota said it would conduct a voluntary safety recall in the U.S. involving about 45,500 Highlander hybrid sports utility vehicles and 36,700 Lexus RX 400h sports utility vehicles.Some transistors in the recalled cars were “inadequately soldered a

Mobility July 3, 2011