Q1 earnings

Real estate Seoul’s prime office transactions rise 6% in Q1 despite weak sentiment

Despite mounting economic headwinds and heightened investor caution, the prime office market in Seoul posted a modest recovery in the first quarter,...

Electronics LG Electronics poised to extend OLED TV market lead into 2025  

LG Electronics Inc. is on track to retain its lead in the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV market for the 13th consecutive year, bolstered by ...

Beauty & Cosmetics K-Beauty defies seasonal slump with record $980 mn in April exports

The global appetite for Korean beauty products shows no sign of slowing, with their exports in April surging 20% year on year to a record high, ev...

Banking & Finance Samsung flexes financial muscle as insurance, card units top rankings

Samsung Group’s financial affiliates are closing in on KB Financial Group for the top spot in South Korea’s financial services sector, u...

Earnings Dawn delivery pioneer Kurly posts 1st-ever quarterly profit

Kurly Inc., a pioneer in South Korea’s dawn delivery market, has posted its first-ever quarterly profit, bucking a slowdown in private consump...

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...

Arts Maybe Happy Ending: A robot love story that rewrote Broadway playbook

On an unremarkable evening in November 2024, inside the opulent Belasco Theatre in Manhattan, something quietly historic was taking place.A delicate...

Earnings Shinhan Financial’s overseas business blooms, on track for record earnings

Shinhan Financial Group Co., South Korea’s leading financial holding company, is poised to surpass 1 trillion won ($692 million) in annual net...

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...

Travel & Leisure Korean hotels bask in rising foreign visitors; travel agencies in trouble

Hotels in South Korea are booming thanks to a surge in foreign visitors on a weaker won currency, while domestic travel agencies are suffering from ...

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 ...

Steel Hyundai's nuclear-grade steel earns US quality certification

South Korean steelmaker Hyundai Steel Co. said on Wednesday it has received the Nuclear Material Supplier Quality System Certificate (QSC) from the ...

Travel & Leisure S.Korea’s foreigners-only casinos bask in return of Chinese high rollers

South Korea’s foreigners-only casinos are witnessing a significant rise in their sales revenue with the return of high rollers from China and ...

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...

Corporate bonds S.Korea’s corporate bond market cools amid poor earnings

Investors’ appetite for corporate debts sold by South Korea’s petrochemical, retail and battery companies has waned this month amid grim...

Asset management US Capital Group raises stake in South Korea’s LS Electric

Capital Group Companies Inc. has increased its stake in LS Electric Co., a South Korean supplier to Elon Musk’s X.AI Corp., as the US asset ma...

Earnings Hanwha Systems posts record earnings in 2024 on brisk defense sales

Hanwha Systems Co., a leading South Korean defense company, reported its best-ever earnings last year thanks to brisk sales of its defense systems i...

Earnings Naver founder to return as board chair; 2024 earnings solid

Lee Hae-jin, the founder of South Korea’s No. 1 internet portal operator Naver Corp., is set to return to the company to lead the board amid t...

Banking & Finance KB Financial to buy back $359 bn in shares after record net profit in 2024

KB Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s largest financial holding group, will spend nearly 1.8 trillion won ($1.2 billion) to boost shareholder...

Earnings Korean financial holding firms log record-high profits in 2024

South Korea’s top four financial holding firms are estimated to have posted their highest-ever profits in 2024, driven by hefty interest incom...

Earnings Samsung to focus on HBM, other high-end chips after weak Q4 earnings

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest memory chipmaker, on Friday vowed to cut its production of legacy chips and increase sales of pre...