Q1

Earnings KakaoBank posts record Q1 profit, eyes Thai expansion after Indonesia

KakaoBank Corp., a leading South Korean internet-only bank, posted its highest quarterly profit in the first quarter, defying a drop in interest inc...

E-commerce Coupang’s Q1 revenue up; quarterly dip signals rising competition

Coupang Inc., South Korea’s largest e-commerce platform, extended its year-on-year sales growth with an 11.1% increase to post $7.9 billion in...

Bio & Pharma Samsung Biologics bags $514 mn CMO contract from US pharma

Samsung Biologics Co., the world’s largest contract manufacturing organization (CMO), said on Monday it has secured a $5.14 million order from...

Earnings S.Korea’s top 4 financial holding firms cheer upbeat Q1 results

South Korea’s top four financial holding companies – Shinhan, KB, Hana and Woori – reported stellar earnings for the first quarter...

Earnings Kia maintains double-digit margin in Q1 with record revenue

Kia Corp., South Korea’s second-largest automaker, extended its double-digit profit margin streak to a 10th consecutive quarter, posting recor...

Economy Korea’s Q1 economic contraction adds to stimulus expectations

South Korea's economy unexpectedly contracted in the first quarter as exports and consumption fell amid a political crisis and fears over the impact...

Earnings Hyundai Motor posts solid Q1; rough road ahead on Trump's auto tariffs

South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. defied mounting global trade headwinds and a fresh round of US import tariffs to deliver record ...

Earnings SK Hynix’s Q1 profit soars on HBM chips, beats Samsung’s overall earnings

SK Hynix Inc., the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker, reported a dramatic surge in first-quarter profits on Thursday, delivering the sec...

Tech, Media & Telecom Samsung fends off Apple to reclaim global smartphone crown in Q1

Samsung Electronics Co. has regained its position as the world’s top smartphone vendor in the first quarter, outpacing Apple Inc. despite the ...

Business & Politics IFEZ posts 2nd-highest FDI performance with $309.6 million in Q1

The Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) Authority said on Monday that it attracted $309.6 million in reported foreign direct investment (FDI) in the f...

Earnings Samsung’s Q1 profit beats expectations; Q2 outlook murky on tariff war

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest memory chipmaker, posted stronger-than-expected first-quarter operating profit on Tuesday, booste...

Shipping & Shipbuilding HD Hyundai on course for $1.55 bn order amid US-China trade war

HD Hyundai Co., the world’s largest shipbuilding group, is emerging as a key beneficiary of the Trump administration’s tariff policies a...

League table UBS tops Korea’s buyout deal advisory in Q1 thanks to Lotte

UBS Group AG, the frontrunner in South Korea's M&A market last year, retained the top position in the country's buyout advisory market in the fi...

Bio & Pharma Lotte Biologics eyes first ADC CDMO order in 2025

SAN FRANCISCO -- Lotte Biologics Co., the drug consignment development and production unit of South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group, will seek to wi...

Earnings Samsung Bioepis Q1 sales surpass $362 mn in US, Europe

Samsung Bioepis Co. reported that its quarterly overseas sales of key biosimilars exceeded 500 billion won ($362 million), according to figures re...

Foreign exchange Korean won hits 15-year low in Q2 amid FX, economic uncertainty  

The South Korean currency fell to its lowest level against the US dollar in 15 years in the second quarter amid growing uncertainties surrounding gl...

Food & Beverage CJ CheilJedang opens Bibigo store on Amazon Germany

South Korea's CJ CheilJedang Corp. announced on Tuesday that it launched the Korean food (K-food) brand Bibigo's store on Amazon Germany, the larges...

Electronics Samsung becomes No.1 smartphone brand in 38 countries in Q1

Samsung Electronics Co. has become No. 1 smartphone brand in 38 countries in the first quarter of this year.According to Counterpoint Research's Sma...

Korean games Line Games to launch The Play of Genesis in Taiwan, Hong Kong

South Korea's Line Games Corp. announced on Friday that it signed a publishing agreement with Vietnam's tech giant VNG for the mobile game The Play ...

Pension funds NPS logs 5.8% return in Q1 led by US tech stock rally

National Pension Service (NPS) of South Korea, the world’s third-largest pension fund, posted a 5.82% investment return for the first quarter ...

AgTech SK Leaveo to start fertilizer coating with biodegradable materials

South Korea's SK Leaveo, a subsidiary of SKC Ltd. specializing in biodegradable materials, will enter the fertilizer coating market that uses polybu...

Electronics Samsung cements TV market lead in Q1; LG tops OLED segment

Samsung Electronics Co. has retained the top spot in the global TV market in the first quarter of this year, cementing its lead in the ultra-large p...

Earnings Meritz leaves door open for an M&A, to stay shareholder friendly

Meritz Financial Group Inc., boasting the fourth-biggest market capitalization among South Korean financial holding companies, will look into an acq...

Automobiles Hyundai beats Volkswagen with world's 2nd-largest Q1 profits

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group surpassed Volkswagen Group to claim the second-highest operating profit in the global automotive industry for the ...

Electronics Samsung hits highest US smartphone market share in 4 years

Samsung Electronics Co. has achieved its highest market share in the US smartphone market in four years, thanks to its first AI phone the Galaxy S24...

Banking & Finance KakaoBank sees record quarterly net profit

South Korea's KakaoBank Corp. enjoyed a record quarterly net profit of 111.2 billion won ($81 million) for the first quarter of this year, the com...

Earnings Korea Investment sees record quarterly net profit

Korea Investment & Securities Co. enjoyed a record quarterly net profit on the course to become the country's most profitable brokerage house ...

Earnings Coupang to keep investing against Chinese players despite loss

Coupang Inc., South Korea’s No. 1 e-commerce platform facing fierce competition from Chinese rivals, dipped into the red in the first quarter,...

Economy OECD sharply revises up S.Korea GDP forecast after strong Q1

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) forecasts South Korea’s economy to expand at a faster pace than it previousl...

Earnings LG Chem displays bright outlook after loss in first quarter

LG Chem Ltd., the parent of the world's second-largest battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd., expects its business will improve in upcoming quarters...