Jonathan Hopfner | SilverScorpio.Com

Seoul shares seen up helped by U.S. results

April 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

SEOUL, April 20 (Reuters) – Seoul shares may rise on Monday
after gains on Wall Street, with banks likely to be helped by
better-than-expected results from Citigroup (C.N), but caution
before a batch of key South Korean earnings could limit rises.

“The rises in U.S. stocks and U.S. results will help
sentiment. But Seoul stocks snapped a five-week gaining streak
last Friday and it seems caution is setting in,” said Kim
Hyoung-ryoul, a market analyst at NH Investment and Securities.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI)
finished down 0.58 percent at 1,329.00 points on Friday,
stumbling after five straight weekly gains.

“Investors will probably want to confirm a set of key
doemstic earnings this week, but since they are not expected to
be as bad as feared, we can hope for the return of weekly gains,”
Kim added.

Memory chip makers including Hynix Semiconductor (000660.KS)
may react to news that Taiwan’s Nanya Technology (2408.TW) would
cut its capital by 66.43 percent as it grapples with losses amid
a supply glut and falling demand. [ID:nTPU001299]

Lotte Group issues including Lotte Chilsung (005300.KS) may
be in the spotlight after a report that the retail-to-beverage
conglomerate would not submit a final offer for Oriental Brewery.
[ID:nHKG328220]
———————-MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2246 GMT ————

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S and P 500 .SPX 869.6 0.5% 4.300
USD/JPY JPY 99.2 0.04% 0.040
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT 2.9544 — 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU 867.4 -0.06% -0.500
US CRUDE CLc1 50.2 -0.26% -0.130
DOW JONES .DJI 8131.33 0.07% 5.90
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 99.56 0.42% 0.42
————————————————————-

MARKETS SUMMARY
*Dow ends best 6 wks since 1938 on economy hopes [nN17358750]
*Oil rises to over $50 on consumer confidence boost [nSIN431763]
*Dollar gains vs most majors, euro slumps on ECB [nN17275408]
*Benchmark Treasuries lose a full point in price [nNYD000473]

STOCKS TO WATCH

KUMHO TIRE (073240.KS)

The tiremaker said late on Friday it would suspend production
for three days amid falling global demand.

LG HAUSYS (108670.KS)

LG Hausys, a manufacturer of industrial materials spun off
from LG Chem (051910.KS), will be re-listed and start trading on
Monday.

(Reporting by Jungyoun Park; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: adrs, analyst, April, asia, batch, BKAS, boost, brewery, capital, caution, Chem, CHG, chip, chip makers, Citigroup, citigroup c, CLc, cn, composite, composite stock, confidence, conglomerate, Consumer, Consumer Confidence, crude, demand, DJI, dollar, dow, Dow Jones, ecb, economy, Editing, euro, Friday, glut, gmt, gold, group, Group Issues, Hausys, Hynix, Hyoung-ryoul, index, instrument, investment, Jonathan Hopfner, jones, JPY, Jungyoun Park, Kim Hyoung-ryoul, kim, Korea, Kospi, KUMHO, last, Lotte Chilsung, manufacturer, market, Market Analyst, market snapshot, markets, memory, memory chip, Monday, Nanya, nanya technology, net, NEWS, nHKG, nNYD, nSIN, nTPU, offer, oil, pct, percent, point, price, production, report, reporting, return, reuters, semiconductor, sentiment, Seoul, Seoul Stocks, set, slumps, snapshot, south, spot, spot gold, spotlight, SPX, stock, stock price index, streak, summary, supply, Supply Glut, taiwan, Technology, Tire, tiremaker, trading, Treasuries, TSY, US, USD, Wall Street, week, XAU, YLD

PRESS DIGEST – Hong Kong – April 20

April 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

HONG KONG, April 20 (Reuters) – These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES

– China is in talks with Hong Kong about launching new routes for cruise lines to allow mainland tourists to travel to Taiwan, the director of the China National Tourism Administration said.

SING TAO DAILY

– More than 10 insurance companies have filed cases with the police of possible insurance fraud. The firms say that some clients exaggerated their claims to receive higher compensation.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

– The president of China National Offshore Oil Corp (0883.HK), the nation’s dominant offshore oil and gas producer, said a rising tide of global protectionism had dealt a setback to mainland firms seeking to invest abroad.

– Jiangsu-based Wuxi Lida Gear Manufacturing plans to raise as much as $200 million from an initial public offering in Hong Kong as early as the end of the year, sources said.

– Denmark’s Novozymes A/S (NZYMb.CO), together with China’s COFCO and Sinopec (0386.HK) could invest up to 90 billion yuan ($13.17 billion) in a biofuel project.

THE STANDARD

– About 850 Lehman Brothers minibond investors called for Chief Executive Donald Tsang to step down in a protest march on Sunday, saying he failed to help them recover their money.

HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL

– Airport Authority chairman Marvin Cheung said Hong Kong International Airport needed to open a third runway and was studying the feasibility of building it.

WEN WEI PO

– Interested buyers are willing to pay 700 million pounds for the Asian assets of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), according to media reports.

(Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

For Chinese newspapers, see……………[PRESS/CN]

For Taiwan newspapers, see…………[PRESS/TW] ($1=6.832 Yuan

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: accuracy, administration., airport, April, authority, bank, biofuel, building, chairman, Chief Executive Donald Tsang, China, china morning post, China National Tourism, China National Tourism Administration, Chinese Newspapers, COFCO, compensation, corp, cruise, daily, Denmark, Digest, director, Editing, end, feasibility, fraud, Gas, Hong Kong, hong kong economic times, Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong Newspapers, Initial Public Offering, insurance, Insurance Fraud, interested, international, jiangsu, Jiangsu-based, Jonathan Hopfner, journal, lehman, Lehman Brothers, Lida Gear, mainland, manufacturing, March, Marvin Cheung, minibond, Monday, MONEY, morning, nation, national, National Tourism Administration, Novozymes, NZYMb, offering, offshore, oil, post, president, President Of China, press, producer, project, protectionism, protest, protest march, RBS, reuters, Rising Tide, royal, royal bank of scotland, Runway, Scotland, setback, sing, Sing Tao, Sinopec, south, south china morning, south china morning post, standard, sunday, taiwan, Taiwan Newspapers, tao, tide, times, Tourism, vouch, WEN WEI, Wuxi, year, Yuan

Seoul shares open up as techs, banks advance

April 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

SEOUL, April 17 (Reuters) – Seoul shares rose on Friday after overnight gains on Wall Street with techs such as Hynix Semiconductor (000660.KS) leading gains, while banks rose helped by better-than-expected earnings from JPMorgan (JPM.N).

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was up 1.21 percent at 1,352.89 as of 0005 GMT.

(Reporting by Jungyoun Park; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: April, April 17, banks, composite, composite stock, earnings, Editing, Friday, gmt, Hynix, index, jonathan, Jonathan Hopfner, jpm, JPMorgan, Jungyoun Park, Korea, Kospi, percent, price, reporting, reuters, rose, semiconductor, Seoul, shares, stock, stock price index, Wall Street

Cathay Pac cuts capacity, staff to take unpaid leave

April 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

HONG KONG, April 17 (Reuters) – Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd (0293.HK) said on Friday it would cut passenger and cargo capacity from May following a sharp drop in turnover in the first quarter of 2009.

The Hong Kong-based airline is requesting its staff to take unpaid leave over the course of the next 12 months, it said in a statement.

From May, Cathay will reduce passenger capacity by 8 percent and its unit Dragonair will slash capacity by 13 percent. Overall cargo capacity will be reduced by 11 percent.

The company said turnover derived from passenger and cargo services in the first quarter fell 22.4 percent from a year ago. (Reporting by Alison Leung; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 12 months, airline, alison, Alison Leung, April, April 17, capacity, cargo, cargo capacity, Cargo Services, Cathay, Cathay Pac, Cathay Pacific, cathay pacific airways, cathay pacific airways ltd, company, course, Dragonair, drop, Editing, First Quarter, Friday, Hk, Hong Kong, jonathan, Jonathan Hopfner, leave, ltd, May, PAC, pacific, passenger, percent, quarter, reporting, reuters, slash, staff, statement, turnover, unit, unpaid leave, year

LG Display shares jump on brighter outlook

April 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

SEOUL, April 17 (Reuters) – Shares in LG Display Co Ltd (034220.KS) jumped early Friday on growing optimism after the firm’s earnings announcement that the first quarter had marked the flat-panel industry’s bottom.

LG Display, the world’s second-biggest LCD maker, reported on Thursday a 412 billion won ($310.7 million) operating loss for January-March, slightly bigger than the market consensus, but expected panel prices and shipments to increase in the second quarter. [ID:nSEO78923]

“LG Display will see its second-quarter operating loss narrow sharply and may turn around to a profit on a monthly basis in May or June,” Hyundai Securities said in a research note.

“Its key clients — LG Electronics, Vizio and Chinese TV makers — are increasing shares in the LCD TV market.”

At 0020 GMT, LG Display was trading up 4.3 percent at 32,500 won, leading the wider market’s 1.4 percent gain. The stock had risen as much as 5.5 percent.

The liquid crystal display (LCD) industry has been battered by steep falls in prices of TV and computer screens and depressed demand. But hopes are growing as lower prices and China’s incentives for electronics purchases have boosted consumer appetite. (Reporting by Rhee So-eui; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

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Seoul shares open lower led by banks, auto issues

April 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

SEOUL, April 15 (Reuters) – Seoul shares fell on Wednesday, following losses on Wall Street sparked by weak retail sales data, with banks leading the decline after their U.S. peers dropped on news of Goldman Sachs’ (GS.N) share offering

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was down 1.23 percent at 1,326.09 as of 0006 GMT.

(Reporting by Jungyoun Park; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: April, April 15, auto, banks, composite, composite stock, decline, Editing, gmt, Goldman, Goldman Sachs, index, jonathan, Jonathan Hopfner, Jungyoun Park, Korea, Kospi, led, losses, NEWS, offering, peers, percent, price, reporting, retail sales data, reuters, sachs, sachs gs, Seoul, share, shares, stock, stock price index, US, Wall Street, Wednesday

China’s top 3 insurers post mixed Q1 premium income

April 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

SHANGHAI, April 15 (Reuters) – China’s three biggest insurers reported mixed insurance premium revenue growth for the first quarter of this year from a year earlier, with the Ping An Insurance (Group) Co posting a 37 percent jump on Wednesday.

Top insurer China Life Insurance Co (601628.SS)(2628.HK) said on Tuesday premium revenue grew a marginal two percent in the first three months of this year, but China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co (601601.SS) posted a five percent fall in premium revenue for the quarter on Wednesday, their separate statements said.

Ping An (2318.HK)(601318.SS), China’s second largest insurer, reported 49.02 billion yuan ($7.18 billion) in premium income for the first quarter, giving no comparative figures.

It posted 35.73 billion yuan in premium revenue for the same period last year.

Larger rival China Life, the world’s biggest life insurer by market value, collected 104 billion yuan in premiums in the first quarter, it said, compared with a previously reported 102.2 billion yuan a year earlier.

China Pacific’s first-quarter premium income dropped to 29.2 billion yuan, compared with 30.6 billion yuan a year earlier.

China’s insurance market, dominated by the Big Three, has grown dramatically this decade as the government dismantles a cradle-to-grave welfare system, although the rate of premium growth in individual companies varies greatly.

Last year, Chinese insurers collected a combined 978 billion yuan in insurance premiums, up 39 percent from 2007, the fastest annual growth since 2002. ($=6.83 yuan) (Reporting by Lu Jianxin and Edmund Klamann; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 2628 hk, 601318, 601628, April, Big, China, china life insurance, china life insurance co, Comparative Figures, decade, Editing, Edmund Klamann, fall, First Quarter, first three months, Government, group, growth, income, Individual Companies, insurance, insurance group, Insurance Market, insurance premium, insurance premiums, insurer, Jianxin, Jonathan Hopfner, jump, larger, life, life insurance co, life insurer, market, pacific, percent, period, ping, post, premium, quarter, rate, reporting, reuters, revenue, Rival China, shanghai, system, Tuesday, value, Wednesday, welfare, Welfare System, world, year, Yuan

S.Korea’s IBK in 5-yr dollar bond sale -source

April 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

HONG KONG, April 15 (Reuters) – Industrial Bank of Korea (024110.KS) is looking to sell a benchmark-sized, 5-year dollar bond at a price of around mid-500 basis points (bps) over mid-swaps, a source close to the deal said on Wednesday.

The deal which is likely to be priced on Thursday during New York trading hours, will not feature a government guarantee since IBK, which specialises in lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, is already majority-owned by South Korea.

A benchmark deal is typically of at least $500 million, but sources had earlier told Reuters the South Korean lender could raise as much as $1 billion.

Barclays Capital, Citigroup (C.N), Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) will be the lead managers for the sale.

IBK is rated A by Standard and Poor’s and A2 by Moody’s, or the sixth-highest investment-grade rating. The lender is rated one notch above that at A-plus by Fitch, but with a negative outlook. (Reporting by Rafael Nam; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 024110, a2, April, bank, barclays, Barclays Capital, basis, basis points, benchmark, Bond, capital, Citigroup, citigroup c, cn, deal, dollar, dollar bond, Editing, Fitch, Government, government guarantee, guarantee, Hong Kong, IBK, industrial, Jonathan Hopfner, lead, lender, lending, lynch, Medium Sized Enterprises, Merrill, Merrill Lynch, mid, moody, morgan, morgan stanley, Negative Outlook, New York, notch, outlook, poor, price, Rafael Nam, rating, reporting, reuters, S.Korea, sale, Small And Medium Sized Enterprises, source, South Korea, standard, standard and poor, Stanley, Swaps, Thursday, trading, Wednesday, year

KEPCO operating loss expanding on fuel costs -govt

April 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

SEOUL, April 15 (Reuters) – State-run Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) (015760.KS) posted an estimated 1.2 trillion won ($909.4 million) operating loss in the first two months of the year due to high fuel costs, Seoul’s energy ministry said on Wednesday.

The ministry said the expanding operating loss was pressuring the power monopoly to raise domestic electricity rates. (Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Angela Moon, April, April 15, corp, Domestic Electricity, Editing, electric, electricity, electricity rates, energy, Energy Ministry, fuel, fuel costs, govt, high-energy, jonathan, Jonathan Hopfner, Kepco, Korea, Korea Electric Power, Korea Electric Power Corp, loss, ministry, monopoly, Months Of The Year, moon, power, Power Monopoly, reporting, reuters, Seoul, state-run, trillion, Wednesday, year

S.Korea commercial power consumption decline slows

April 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

SEOUL, April 15 (Reuters) – South Korea’s consumption of commercial electricity in March fell by the slowest annual pace in five months, data showed on Wednesday, fresh evidence the downturn in Asia’s fourth-largest economy was moderating.

The amount of power used by the industrial sector fell 2.8 percent in March from a year earlier, marking the slowest annual decline since a 5.0 percent gain last October, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy data showed.

It follows drops in industrial electricity consumption of 5.5 percent in February and 11.0 percent in January over a year earlier.

The ministry said power consumption in the semiconductor and steel industries posted its first annual growth in five months in March, leading the overall improvement in consumption. (Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Yoo Choonsik and Jonathan Hopfner)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: amount, Angela Moon, April, asia, Choonsik, Commercial Electricity, consumption, decline, downturn, economy, Economy Data, Editing, electricity, electricity consumption, evidence, February, five months, gain, growth, improvement, Industrial Electricity, industrial sector, January, jonathan, Jonathan Hopfner, knowledge, knowledge economy, March, ministry, moon, October, pace, percent, power, Power Consumption, Power Semiconductor, reporting, reuters, S.Korea, sector, semiconductor, Seoul, South Korea, Steel, Steel industries, Wednesday, year, Yoo

UPDATE 1-KEPCO operating loss expanding on fuel costs -govt

April 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

The power monopoly has suffered a double whammy since last year with prices of imported feedstocks such as coal, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and fuel oil jumping to record highs in July. Prices have nearly halved since the peak, but the local won currency has dropped more than 40 percent against the dollar since last year, making imports still expensive for KEPCO.

“KEPCO’s profit loss is expanding (1.2 trillion won in January and February) as fuel costs increase without an adjustment in power costs,” the ministry said.

“There is more pressure (now) to increase the electricity rates.”

South Korea held off raising tariff hikes for nearly two years to ease inflation pressures before raising electricity rates by a modest 4.5 percent on average in November.

KEPCO says it needs at least a 20 percent price increase in 2009 to cover its fuel costs. Seoul’s Energy Minister Lee Youn-ho also said last month that a price hike would be necessary as soon as economy recovers.

South Korea’s consumption of commercial electricity in March fell by the slowest annual pace of 2.8 percent in five months, a fresh indication of recovery in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, [ID:nSEV000685]

In 2008, KEPCO posted a bigger-than-expected net loss of 2.95 trillion won. The power supplier said import costs for coal rose 87.7 percent compared to year ago in March and liquefied natural gas (LNG) costs grew 37.2 percent.

Shares in KEPCO lost 3.1 percent as of 0234 GMT, underperforming the wider market’s 0.82 percent fall.

(Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: adjustment, Angela Moon, April, asia, coal, Commercial Electricity, consumption, corp, currency, dollar, double whammy, economy, Editing, electric, electricity, electricity rates, energy, energy minister, Energy Ministry, fall, February, feedstocks, fuel, fuel costs, Gas, Gas Lng, gmt, govt, hike, import, import costs, increase, indication, inflation, Inflation Pressures, January, Jonathan Hopfner, July, Kepco, Korea Electric Power, Korea Electric Power Corp, Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG, local, loss, March, market, minister lee, Minister Lee Youn-ho, ministry, monopoly, month, November, nSEV, oil, pace, peak, percent, power, Power Monopoly, pressure, price, Price Hike, profit, Profit Loss, recovery, reporting, reuters, Seoul, South Korea, state-run, supplier, tariff, update, Wednesday, whammy, year, Youn, Youn-ho

Seoul shares may rise, but gains seen limited

April 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

SEOUL, April 13 (Reuters) – Seoul shares may rise on Monday
but gains could be limited following their latest rally and as a
long weekend on Wall Street gives the market little direction,
with auto issues likely to be in the spotlight on government
support measures.

“I’d say shares still have upward momentum, though caution
about corporate results exists. Investors are waiting in
particular for U.S. bank results, which Wells Fargo (WFC.N)
kicked off on a positive note,” said Lee Jae-mahn, a market
analyst at Tong Yang Securities.

“Stocks have risen too much and too fast, and gains may be
limited in that regard,” Lee added.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended
up 1.50 percent at 1,336.04 points on Friday, posting its fifth
consecutive week of gains, the longest weekly winning streak
since June, 2007.

Auto issues including Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) may be in the
spotlight after news South Korea plans to spend 500 billion won
($376.5 million) to help the country’s car industry through the
global downturn. [ID:nSEO26773]
———————-MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2243 GMT ————

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S and P 500 .SPX 856.56 3.81% 31.400
USD/JPY JPY 100.34 -0.04% -0.040
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 2.9225 — 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU 884.15 0.40% 3.500
US CRUDE CLc1 52.02 -0.42% -0.220
DOW JONES .DJI 8083.38 3.14% 246.27
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 98.99 4.59% 4.34
————————————————————-

MARKET SUMMARY
*Asia stocks push towards 6-mth highs [ID:nT1655]
*World fuel use to dive by 2.4 million bpd-IEA [ID:nLA70157]
*Japan’s record borrowing plan ups pressure on BOJ [ID:nT12543]
*Treasuries fall, rising stocks sap safe-haven bid
[ID:nN09298439]

STOCKS TO WATCH

POSCO (005490.KS)

The world’s No.4 steelmaker posted a sharp drop in quarterly
profit to the lowest level in seven years on crumbling global
steel demand, and cut its 2009 output and sales targets by nearly
a fifth. [ID:nSEO193919]

POSCO also said it was in a preliminary deal with Rio Tinto
(RIO.AX) for a 20 percent discount in iron ore term prices, but
was looking for prices to go down even further. [ID:nSEO11216]

(Reporting by Jungyoun Park; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: adrs, analyst, April, asia, Asia Stocks, auto, bank, bid, BKAS, Boj, bpd, car, caution, CHG, CLc, composite, composite stock, country, crude, deal, demand, direction, discount, DJI, dow, Dow Jones, downturn, drop, Editing, fall, Fargo, fifth, following, Friday, fuel, global downturn, Global Steel, gmt, gold, Government, hyundai, hyundai motor, IEA, index, industry, instrument, iron, Jae-mahn, Japan, Jonathan Hopfner, jones, JPY, June, Jungyoun Park, Korea, Kospi, last, lee, lee jae, Lee Jae-mahn, level, market, market snapshot, momentum, Monday, motor, mth, net, NEWS, nLA, note, nSEO, ore, output, pct, percent, plan, posco, price, profit, rally, record, regard, reporting, reuters, Rio, rising stocks, sales targets, Seoul, snapshot, South Korea, spot, spot gold, spotlight, SPX, Steel, Steel demand, steelmaker, stock, stock price index, streak, summary, support, term, Tinto, tong, tong yang, Treasuries, TSY, tsy yld, u s bank, Upward Momentum, US, USD, use, Wall Street, week, weekend, wells, wfc, winning, world, world fuel, XAU, yang, YLD

S.Korea banks’ loan delinquency ratio falls in Mar

April 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

SEOUL, April 13 (Reuters) – The delinquency ratio for loans extended by South Korean banks turned lower in March from the previous month but remained higher year-on-year due mainly to soured loans to small companies, a regulator said on Monday.

The ratio came to 1.46 percent at the end of March, against 1.67 percent in February and 1.50 percent in January, according to the Financial Supervisory Service’s policy report to parliament.

The delinquency ratio for lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) also dropped to 2.32 percent at the end of last month, from 2.67 percent a month before.

Domestic banks increased lending to SMEs by 30 percent to 3.9 trillion won in March from February.

The South Korean government and central bank have been pumping fresh liquidity to the banking sector to allow banks to keep lending to cash-strapped companies, while setting up a 20-trillion-won ($15 billion) fund to recapitalise domestic lenders.

A combined 4 trillion won from the bank recapitalisation fund had been injected into eight financial institutions as of end-March, including Kookmin Bank, Woori Bank and Hana Bank, the Financial Services Commission, a financial watchdog, said in a separate statement.

Kookmin, Woori and Hana are units of KB Financial Group (105560.KS), Woori Finance Holdings (053000.KS) and Hana Financial Group (086790.KS), respectively.

Separately, South Korean banks will assess the accounts of 45 large business groups from this month with an eye to restructuring their weaker units.

($1=1337.5 Won)

(Reporting by Kim Yeon-hee; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: April, bank, banking, Banking Sector, business, Business Groups, commission, delinquency, domestic banks, Editing, end, eye, February, finance, financial, Financial Group, financial institutions, Financial Supervisory Service, Financial Watchdog, fund, Government, group, Hana, Hana Bank, Holdings, January, Jonathan Hopfner, Kim Yeon, Kim Yeon-hee, Kookmin, Kookmin Bank, Korean Banks, lending, liquidity, loan, Loan Delinquency, mar, March, Medium Sized Enterprises, Monday, month, parliament, percent, policy, ratio, recapitalisation, recapitalise, regulator, report, reporting, reuters, S.Korea, sector, Seoul, service, Small And Medium Sized Enterprises, SME, SMEs, south, South Korean Government, statement, Supervisory, trillion, watchdog, won, Woori, Woori Finance Holdings, Yeon-hee

PRESS DIGEST – Hong Kong – April 20

Seoul shares open up as techs, banks advance

Cathay Pac cuts capacity, staff to take unpaid leave

LG Display shares jump on brighter outlook

S.Korea’s IBK in 5-yr dollar bond sale -source

KEPCO operating loss expanding on fuel costs -govt

S.Korea commercial power consumption decline slows

UPDATE 1-KEPCO operating loss expanding on fuel costs -govt

Seoul shares may rise, but gains seen limited

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