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- FTSE, 한국 선진 이머징 마켓에 포함(1보)
- FTSE 인터내셔널이 7일 전체 세계 지수(all-world index) 분기조정 사항을 발표하며 한국을 이스라엘, 대만과 함께 선진 이머징 마켓(advanced emerging markets)에 포함시켰다.
5개 종목을 편입시켰는데 삼성증권의 투자비중(investibility)은 100%, LG투자증권은 100%, 현대중공업은 75%, 한통프리텔은 75%, KT M.com은 100%라고 발표했다.
또 5개 종목을 제외했는데 제외되는 현대건설의 현재 투자 비중(current investibility weight)은 100%로, 삼성중공업은 75%, 대우증권은 75%, 대한항공은 49%, 대우중공업은 75%라고 발표했다.
- 디지털시대의 M&A 활용전략- LG경제연구원
- LG경제연구원은 8일 인터넷 기업들이 경영환경 변화에 따라 M&A를 적극 활용하고 있다며 최근 유행하는 M&A유형과 M&A활용전략 등을 소개했다.
◇최근의 M&A 유형
1.생존전략형
B2C를 중심으로 한 닷컴 기업들의 생존 전략으로 진행되는 M&A이다.
기술력은 있지만 자금난에 시달리는 중소형 전문 업체와 확고한 우위를 확보하려는 포탈의 이해가 맞아 떨어지면서 발생하는 M&A다.
2.시장선점을 위한 B2B 진영의 M&A
다수의 공급업체와 구매업체가 참여하는 디지털 B2B 시장에서 나타나는 흐름이다. B2B는 B2C와 비교해 볼 때 대상 고객의 수가 상대적으로 작고 네트워크 효과는 크게 나타나는 데 반해, 이들 기업들을 대상으로 하는 B2B 업체는 각 산업별로 중첩적이고 경쟁적으로 등장하고 있다. 영향력 있는 몇 개의 선도기업이 주축이 되어 각 산업별로 M&A를 통해 시장을 선점, 주도권을 확보할 것으로 예상된다.
3.온라인-오프라인 결합
인터넷 환경 하에서 Brick & Mortar 기업들은 전통적인 사업과 인터넷을 활용한 새로운 사업간의 연결 및 조화를 통한 Click & Mortar 기업으로의 변신이다.
새롭게 변신하지 않으면 살아남을 수 없는 전통 기업의 요구와 수익모델이 없어 고민하는 인터넷 업체들에게 있어 온라인과 오프라인을 통합하는 새로운 비즈니스 모델이 유력한 대안의 하나로 떠오르고 있다.
국내 1위의 음반 유통업체인 메타랜드의 시디프리 사업부와 뮤직코리아가 합병하여 엠앤올이라는 새로운 온-오프라인 통합 음반 유통회사를 설립한 것을 그 예로 들 수 있다.
4.몸집 부풀리기형
‘Winner Takes All’의 법칙이 시장을 지배할 것이라는 위기 의식 때문에 경쟁 기업이 M&A로 덩치를 키우면 이에 대한 방어책으로 M&A에 나서는가 하면 2∼3위 업체가 하나로 합쳐 1위가 되는 등 수십억, 수백억 달러 규모의 산업 내 대향 합병이 잇따르고 있다.
시장 선점 효과와 규모의 경제가 크게 나타나는 정보통신 산업을 중심으로 미디어, 금융, 자동차, 식품, 제약 업종 등에서 이같은 M&A가 활발하게 이뤄지고 있다.
5.핵심역량의 확보
기업이 독자적으로 핵심 역량을 개발하기 위해서는 시간 혹은 자원 배분의 측면에서 제약이 따르게 되므로, M&A를 통해 확보하는 것이 더 경제적일 수 있다.
디지털 경제에서 시장 환경이나 고객의 요구에 신속하게 대응하기 위해서는 M&A를 통해 필요할 때마다 필요한 기술, 역량을 기업 외부에서 조달하는 것이 더욱 효과적일 수 있다.
◇M&A의 성공적 수행전략
1.사전 전략-충분히 탐색하라
재무적인 측면 이외에 기업 문화와 같은 측면들을 제대로 고려하지 않아 애초에 기대했던 만큼의 시너지 효과를 거두지 못하고 있다. 기업의 비전과 무관하게 진행된 M&A는 실패할 수밖에 없다.
성공적 M&A를 위한 사전 고려 사항은 ▲비전의 공유 ▲재무적 성과 ▲제품과 시장의 적합도 ▲문화적 적합도 ▲운영과 시스템의 적합도와 기타 인수 가치의 결정, 독점금지법이나 공정거래위원회의 승인 여부 등 법적 규제의 가능성, 기술 협약, 회계 정책 등에 대한 검토가 필요하다.
2.사후 전략
우선 신속하게 통합해야한다. M&A 이후에 가장 중요한 요소는 무엇보다 속도이다. M&A는 단 한 번에 이루어지는 사건으로서 자본시장에서는 새롭게 탄생한 기업의 즉각적인 성과를 기대하고 있다.
따라서 M&A에서 훌륭한 성과를 달성하는 많은 기업들은 일반적으로 6개월, 길어야 1년 안에 합병 후 통합 작업이 마무리된다.
다음은 지속적으로 통합해야한다. M&A는 법적으로는 일순간에 이루어지는 사건이지만 그 과정은 한 번으로 모든 것을 끝내고 마는 활동이 아니다. M&A 이후에 즉시 의사소통의 기반을 준비하는 것 이외에 합병 기업이 통합의 어느 단계에 있는지를 확인하기 위해 지속적으로 세부적인 통합 작업의 운영사항을 모니터링하는 것이 필요하다.
마지막으로 고객과 구성원들에게 집중해야한다. 통합 과정에서 가장 중요한 요소는 고객과 구성원들이다.
통합 기간에는 고객과 구성원을 유지시키려는 노력을 결코 게을리해서는 안 되며 통합 기간에 이루어지는 모든 의사결정은 이들에 대한 영향을 고려해야 한다.
어떤 변화가 나타날 것이며 이 변화가 자신들의 미래에 어떤 영향을 미칠 것인가 등 이들이 걱정하는 부분에 대한 적극적인 의사소통을 통해 불안감을 해소시켜야 한다.
성공적인 M&A전략으로 시장지위를 확고히 한 시스코의 경우 M&A는 단순히 규모를 늘리려는 일반적인 의미의 흡수합병과는 달리 R&D와 M&A를 결합한 A&D(Acquisition & Development: 인수개발)라는 새로운 컨셉을 지니고 있다.
A&D란 자사에 부족한 기술, 제품, 엔지니어, 인재 등을 한꺼번에 얻기 위해 젊고 작지만 독창적이고 고도의 기술을 가진 기업을 인수하는 방법으로서 M&A처럼 이미 완성된 회사를 인수하는 것이 아니라 제품 개발을 위해 개발팀을 사들이는 것을 의미한다.
A&D에서 가장 중요한 요소는 인재를 붙잡는 것이다.
- S&P보고서 한국관련부문 발췌 전문
- 다음은 S&P가 18일 발표한 "세계 금융시스템 스트레스" 보고서 전문중 한국관련부문을 발췌 요약한 것이다.
Global Financial System Stress
Standard & Poor"s continues to monitor the 68 financial systems it covers for signs of weaking credit quality. This fourth update on global financial system stress identifies 15 examples of banking systems experiencing or vulnerable to credit quality deterioration .
While credit busts differ from country to country in their forms and immediate causes, often there are some common elements underlying systemic stress. Standard & Poor"s earlier reports focused on finanacial systems whose difficulties stemmed from an overexuberant credit boom. To predict the likelihood of a coming credit bust, Standard & Poor"s monitors several leading indicators - among other qualitative and quantitative measures - in order to spot adverse trends. These indicators - excessive credit growth, increasing leverage of the private sector, asset price inflation, and the weakening of a banking system"s external position - were the reasons behind some current stress situations, and raise the possibility of future asset quality problems in others. However, some other systems are experiencing difficulities becasuse of a persistent structural weakenss in their domestic economies, the lack of necessary economic restructuring, political interference with the lending process, inappropriate sequencing of deregulation, weak supervision, poor credit culture and management, or a combination of these factors. In addition to pointing out the future vulnerabilities signaled by the leading indicator, Standard & Poor"s also attempts to identify the main reasons that caused some of the exisiting stress situations.
Standard & Poor"s addresses the dimension of the possible or existing problems by estimating the potential level of gross problematic assets(GPAs) in the financial system in a reasonable worst-case economic scenario expressed as a percentage of domestic credit to the private sector and nonfinancial public enterprises. Standard & Poor"s then groups the 68 systems and bank executives. The assumptions behind these scenarios are severe and, accordingly, Standard & Poor"s expects that most of the 15 systems examined in this report will not experience such conditions in the coming year.
Systems Under Stress Because of Inefficient Economic Structure
Three Central European financial systems are enduring financial stress. The Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, and Romania are all so-called "transition economies" that have been transforming into market systems in the past decade. For all the countries in the region, this process involved the restructuring of their corporate structure, winnowing out the nonviable enterprises by privatizing or closing down ineffient, loss-making state companies. It also meant clearing the banking sector of the bad debt load that the former regime left it with, as well as recapitalizing and privatizing it. Most countries went through this painful process in the first half of the 1990s, and their banking systems are, if not robust, healthy and more capable to cope with external shocks. The three countries experiencing financial stress postponed the restructuring process both in the corporate and banking sectors, and are suffering from the consequences of prolonging inefficient economic structures. The failure to implement the necessary restructuring was due to a alck of political will. The resulting economic and financial problems led to an economic slowdown in these countries, preventing the banks from underwriting healthy new business.
China, although not a declared transition economy, is experimenting with the modernization of its economy. However, restructuring in the corporate and banking sectors has not been deep enough to radically improve efficiency, The absence of restructuring coupled with high credit growth in excess of economic growth and a lack of credit culture created a dangerous situation for the banking sector.
중략
Systems Under Stress Recovering from Crises
Indonesia, Korea, and Thailand are suffering from the aftermath of a financial meltdown in 1998. Although to different degrees, all three banking systems are characterized by high levels of NPLs and capital constraints. Indonesian and Thai banks operate in weakened economies with a continuing decline in prlvate credit demand as the corporate sector is still recovering. The lack of viable lending opportunities due to the poor health of the enterprise sector adds to banks’ difficulties in cleaning their portfolios. The Korean banking sector is ailing, as corporate restructuring is slow. A relatively weak legal infrastructure by international standards hampers loan loss recovery in Indonesia and Thailand, while strengthened financial regulations have failed to translate into improved lending practices in Korea. Japan, although slowly recovering, has been under stress developed, and father along the way to recovery, the Japanese banking system faces the same type of difficulties as the Indonesian, Korean, and Thai systems. Protracted restructuring of the leveraged corporate sector, and a still high level of problem assets hinder the rebounding of these banks.
중략
Korea : Potential GPAs of 25%~40%
Incomplete privates sector restructuring and low levels of bank capitalization continue to constrain the recovery of Korea’s financial sector. While four of the five largest chaebol industrial groups have ostensibly reduced their average debt-to-equity ratios to 174% at end-1999 from 352% one year earller the absolute level of debt is perceived to have declined less significantly. The fifth chaebol group., Daewoo Corp., collapsed in July 1999, prompting further government assistance to the financial system, this time to the much-troubled investment trust company sector. Restructuring of the smaller conglomerates has taken the form of debt rescheduling and debt-for-equity swaps, which may only delay the resolution of asset quality problems.
Recently, several major Korean banks have issued subordinated debt instruments that qualify as Tier 2 capital to boost their regulatory capital position. Standard & Poor’s regards such instruments as lower quality capital however, given their inherent debt characteristics. Although financial regulations have been strengthened, lending practices appear to be improving only slow. The government’s reluctance to sell the banks at market clearing prices to strong foreign partners means that much of the banking system remains in state hands. As a result, Standard & Poor’s has raised its estimate of the direct fiscal impact of the financial sector bailout, excluding recoveries not yet recorded to Korean won(\)140 trillion -equivalent to 29% of 1999 GDP - from W120 trillion.
중략
Systems Vulnerabel Because Of Rapid Credit Growth
Some other banking systems, while seemingly robust or, at least, unstressed, are nevertheless vulnerable to assset quality deterioration due to different factors. Excessive credit growth amid falling margins due to intense competition is a classic cause and a signal of a credit bust. In addition, it generally induces overly optimistic assumptions about future expansion, prompting banks to relax credit criteria. Both Ireland and the Netherlands are experiencing high credit growth, especially iin their mortgage lending. While both economies are strong, and thus a sudden deterioration of asset quality is unlikely to jeopardize the overall stability of their banking systems, a collapse in asset prices and retail assets could nevertheless have serious effects on them. The effects of a credit bust would probably be much graver for Panama, a country with weaker economic fundamentals.
Strong economic growth continues in th U.S., and analytical opinions are divided between forecasting a soft or hard landing. Some argue that the "new economy" is growing on the merit of a productivity breakthrough, while others fear a bubble fed by unfounded stock market euphoria and concomitant consumption-driven growth. While the detailed anaysis of the likely outcome is beyond the scope of this article, Standard & Poor"s is concerned about the possible effects on the banking concerns are aggravated by some economic imbalance, notably the U.S."s widening current account deficit, which makes the country vulnerable to changes in foreign investor confidence. At the same time, the system"s vulnerability is much mitigated by its unique nature as the largest and most innovative economy in the world.
중략
Sytems Vulnerable Because Of Structural Economic Weaknesses
In some countries, such as Egypt and Cyprus, excessive credit growth combines with structural economic weaknesses to creat a fragile environment. The Lebanese banking system, in contrast, is contracting lending, but is vulnerable to asset quality deterioration because of a persistent fiscal imbalance in an already weakened economy.
- IMF 기자회견문(전문)
- PRESS CONFERENCE
(MOFE, July 14, 2000)
Opening Statement
David T.Coe
IMF Senior Resident Representative
As you know Minister Lee, Hun-Jai and Governor Chon, Chol-Hwan have signed a letter of intent(LOI) addressed to Mr.Horst Kohler, Managing Director of the IMF:
◇The LOI and the Menmorandum of Economic Politics attached to the letter were discussed with the government when the IMF mission was here during the first two weeks of June. The Fund mission worked closely with staff of the World Bank, particularly in the area of corporate restructuring, as we have throughout the program.
◇The LOI is for the final review of the IMF program with Korea, which ends on December 3, 2000. The letter of intent and a report by the IMF staff will be discussed by the Fund"s Executive Board in late August. The review of the program is not complete until it is approved by the Executive Board in that meeting.
Before taking questions, I would like to briefly highlight a number of important points in the LOI and the Memorandum of Economic Politics.
◇First, the Korean ecomony continues to perform strongly and the economic outlook is very positive. The conduct of monetary and fiscal policies has been appropriate, and both are contribution positively to robust growth and low inflation.
◇In the area of social protection, policies are being redirected away from short-term emergency measures toward a longer-term strategy that preserves incentives, such as the new livelihood protection law.
With the macroeconomic situation in solid shape, much of the LOI deals with issues related to financial sector restructuring.
◇The government indicates in the LOI that it is committed to withdrawing from its involvement in the commercial banking system that resulted from the 1997 crisis. To this end, the government will announce a strategy to divest itself of the shares in the commercial banks obtained in the context of recapitalizing the banking system during the crisis.
◇The government has taken steps to create clean banks based on forward-looking criteria for loan classification and provisioning, including loans to companies in workout programs. The data on the level of non-performing loans and necessary provisioning released by the FSS on June 30 were an important step forward in that forward-looking criteria were fully applied to all loans. While it will take time to gain full expertise in applying forward-looking criteria, loan classification requirements have clearly moved much closer to international best practice. The figures released on June 30 indicate that additional provisioning requirements are manageable, which should bolster market confidence.
◇Now it is up to the banks, under the supervision of the FSS/FSC, to exercise continued vigilance and ensure that asset quality is preserved. Thus will help to convince markets that the known credit risks have been provisioned for, and that banks are making operating profits sufficient to meet any new credit costs in the immediate future.
◇Full disclosure by banks of their financial condition, together with improved auditing and governance, will be necessary if depositors are to be able to impose market discipline on the banks in an informed way, which will be necessary once partial deposit insurance is restored on January 1 of next year.
◇In the investment trust sector, the move-to-market valuation has gone relatively smoothly because the amounts invested in book-value funds had declined considerably. The ITC industry needs to move from a quasi-banking operation to genuine fund management, where fund managers act in the interest of investors, and where investors bear the risks. Important steps have been taken to improve governance and disclosure, and the supervisory authorities will need to ensure that they are forcefully implemented.
Financial sector reforms are closely interwined with corporate reforms, since banks are only as strong as their borrowers.
◇Continued vigilance by banks over the quality of their balance sheets is not only important for the banks, it is also critical for corporate restructuring because it means that banks will exercise market discipline on the corporate sector.
◇Further corporate sector reform and restructuring are essential to restore the health and competitiveness of the corporate sector and to ensure that improvements in financial institutions" balance sheets are durable. Market discipline imposed by shareholders will be important to discourage the chaebol from ill-advised and excessive investments financed by debt.
◇Successful corporate reform will require the strict application of prudential regulations, enhanced risk management techniques, elimination of anti-competitive practices, insolvency reform, and improved corporate governance.
In closing, let me say that Korea deserves well functioning and well governed, worldclass financial and corporate sectors. We believe that the government"s program, summarized in the LOI and MEP and supported by the IMF and the World Bank are clearly moving Korea in that direction. The Korean people have come a long way and worked hard to recover from the recent crisis. To ensure sustained future prosperity and improve the functioning of the financial and corporate sectors.
Thank you. I will be happy to take questions now.
- 다음, 세계 8대 사이트에 올라-알렉사 6월조사
- 코스닥등록기업인 다음커뮤니케이션(daum.net)가 세계 8대사이트에 올랐다. 국내사이트중에서는 야후코리아(yahoo.co.kr)가 가장 많은 페이지뷰로 전세계 7위를 기록했다.
미국의 알렉사(www.alexa.com)가 11일(한국시간) 집계해 발표한 6월중 세계 1000대사이트에 따르면 다음은 8억7400만6000페이지뷰로 추산돼 세계 8위를 기록했다. 이는 지난 5월 세계 10위보다 두 단계 높은 것이다. 이어 네티앙 네이버 팍스넷 오마이러브 세이클럽 등 커뮤니티 검색엔진사이트가 상위에 올랐다. 이 경우 야후 등 일부 대형사이트는 순위산정대상에서 빠진다. (Directory of top sites by geographic location,User panel=All users, Month=June 2000, Countries=South Korea 검색 기준임)
검색방법을 달리해 한국내 알렉사패널 사용자를 대상으로 조사하는 경우(Top Sites Search중 Level=Site level, User panel=South Korea, Month=June 2000 검색기준시) 야후코리아(yahoo.co.kr)는 6억5117만7000페이지뷰로 국내 1위, 다음(daum.net)은 6억4488만8000페이지뷰로 2위를 기록했다.
전세계 알렉사패널 사용자를 대상으로 한 조사에서도(Top Sites Search중 Level=Site level, User panel=All Users, Month=June 2000 검색기준시) 야후코리아는 △msn.com(7,705,973천페이지뷰) △yahoo.com(5,913,396천페이지뷰) △excite.com(1,059,418천페이지뷰) △aol.com(1,057,529천페이지뷰) △microsoft.com(929,898천페이지뷰) △yahoo.co.jp(910,705천페이지뷰)에 이어 8억9310만페이지뷰(세계 7위)를 기록, 한국사이트중 가장 앞섰다. 같은기준을 적용하면 다음(daum.net)은 8억7411만6000페이지뷰로 야후코리아 다음인 8위를 기록했다.
알렉사 조사자료는 조사방법상의 문제가 많은 것으로 지적돼 상당수 사이트운영자들이 불만을 표시하는 등 논란이 끊이지 않고 있는 실정이다. 특히 국내외 도메인을 혼용해 쓰는 일부 사이트의 경우 제대로 집계되지 않는 문제도 있는 것으로 지적되고 있다. 더 정밀한 조사결과는 알렉사 사이트에서 확인해 볼 수 있다.
◆Top Sites Search중 Level=Site level, User panel=South Korea, Month=June 2000, 상위 30개 사이트
순위 도메인 천페이지뷰
1 yahoo.co.kr 651,177
(User panel=All Users인 경우 세계7위/893,100)
2 daum.net 644,888
(User panel=All users인 경우 세계8위/874,116)
3 lycos.co.kr 250,517
4 iloveschool 146,888
5 netian.com 118,544
6 naver.com 114,889
7 paxnet.co.k 113,207
8 yahoo.com 105,217
9 ohmylove.co 101,800
10 cyworld.com 85,252
11 hanmir.com 69,302
12 sayclub.com 67,135
13 msn.co.kr 66,897
14 simmani.com 58,354
15 dreamwiz.co 56,664
16 chosun.com 45,923
17 chollian.ne 44,210
18 weppy.com 42,579
19 thinkpool.c 42,460
20 empas.com 41,910
21 msn.com 41,165
22 hananet.net 41,069
23 thrunet.com 38,757
24 skylove.co. 38,673
25 mbc.co.kr 37,129
26 freechal.co 35,825
27 microsoft.c 34,224
28 sbs.co.kr 33,845
29 interpia98. 33,834
30 intizen.com 33,713
◆Directory of top sites by geographic location,User panel=All users, Month=June 2000, Countries=South Korea 검색 기준시(①South Korea 검색시 순위 ②세계1000사이트 순위 ③①조건하 5월분 검색, "-"는 누락됐거나 1000대 사이트에 들지 못한 경우로 추정됨)
① ② 도메인 천페이지뷰 ③
--------------------------------
1 8 daum.net 874,116 10
2 40 netian.com 167,224 39
3 42 naver.com 154,534 46
4 46 paxnet.co.kr 149,543 -
5 51 ohmylove.co.kr135,326 64
6 86 sayclub.com 90,124 103
7 88 cyworld.com 88,054 186
8 92 hanmir.com 86,873 105
9 95 dreamwiz.com 84,329 140
10 111 simmani.com 74,962 109
11 133 chosun.com 63,749 156
12 139 hangame.com 62,270 280
13 140 chollian.net 61,740 166
14 144 weppy.com 59,346 171
15 154 empas.com 56,197 153
16 185 hananet.net 49,160 269
17 188 thrunet.com 48,882 267
18 197 interpia98.net 47,677 199
19 202 thinkpool.com 46,744 861
20 215 freechal.com 44,586 320
21 218 shinbiro.com 43,771 110
22 233 hankooki.com 40,878 -
23 241 intizen.com 39,937 173
24 267 cgiserver.net 36,846 332
25 268 dialpad.co.kr 36,821 413
26 282 hitel.net 35,294 290
27 290 dreamx.net 34,752 356
28 307 geopia.com 33,455 259
29 316 joins.com 32,177 160
30 324 netsgo.com 31,708 305
31 365 channeli.net 28,095 502
32 388 x2game.com 25,742 587
33 422 n016.com 23,977 604
34 448 dearyou.com 22,481 712
35 464 kornet.net 21,945 390
36 509 lettee.com 20,272 762
37 510 bestez.com 20,237 -
38 525 donga.com 19,916 526
39 528 hihome.com 19,870 556
40 552 millim.com 18,856 433
41 610 cizmail.com 16,838 735
42 643 serome.net 15,924 585
43 683 i-biznet.com 15,065 571
44 693 wowcall.com 14,878 -
45 744 incruit.com 13,920 827
46 759 wetelecom.co. 13,708 640
47 810 clubforyou.net 12,813 774
48 871 snu.ac.kr 11,944 -
49 897 healthkorea.net11,605 -
50 907 seoul.kr 11,492 -
- S&P 은행업 분석리포트(원문)
- News Release
June 13, 2000
S&P : Aftermath – Korean Bank Industry Emerges From Crisis
The slide in credit quality of the Korean banking industry slowed during 1999 as the economic environment improved and restructuring at the banks began to take effect. Nevertheless, industry risk remains high, according to a new report by Standard & Poor’s.
According to the report, fundamental structural problems remain in the Korean banking industry, and the sector continues to be vulnerable to developments in the macroeconomy, particularly increases in interest rates.
Some progress has been made in tackling the structural problems inherent in the banking system, such as high levels of domestic debt, weak credit control, and weak capitalization, that served to exacerbate the financial crisis in 1998. Solvency in the sector has improved, as the government recapitalized the weakest elements of the system, and both domestic and international capital markets regained confidence in Korean issuers, alongside the improving economy.
Although structural reforms have not yet eliminated all the problems in the banking system, the system’s improved capitalization and the slowdown in asset quality problems, together with an overall more benign operating environment, have resulted in some stabilization of the sector.
The outlook is more positive for those banks that were not substantially involved in industrial policy loans, have better asset quality, and are undertaking structural reform. The lower level of financial and managerial disorder at such institutions should ensure that they benefit relatively quickly from the continuing improvement in the external environment.
Despite the upturn in the operating environment, there are several trends and issues that could inflict significant damago on the banking sector. The high leverage of Korean corporations and their weak financial profiles will continue to put pressure on the asset quality of Korean banks. Remaining structural problems need to be resolved, and the financial profiles of borrowers strengthened, before risk in the banking sector falls to levels similar to that in markets with more mature banking systems.
The complete Korean Bank Industry Risk Analysis is available on RatingsDirect, Standard & Poor’s Web-based credit analysis service. For a free trial of RatingsDirect, please contract Minako Yoneyama in Tokyo at +81-3-3593-8746
Contacts : Graeme Knowd, Tokyo 03-3593-8742
Terry Chan, Singapore 852-2533-3590
Kyota Narimatsu (media contact) 03-3593-8588
