S. Korea`s Jan. direct financing dips on financial woes

SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korean companies' direct financing tumbled in
January from the previous month as they faced difficulty selling shares and bonds
amid deepening financial concerns, the financial regulator said Thursday.
Local companies and banks raised 10.02 trillion won (US$6.62 billion) by floating
stocks and bonds in January, down 19 percent from a month earlier, the Financial
Supervisory Service (FSS) said.
Share issues plunged 32 percent on-month to 410 billion won in January, while
debt sales dropped 19 percent to 9.61 trillion won.
Debt offering by banks nose-dived 70 percent to 1.16 trillion won as concerns
rose on souring assets and swelling delinquency rates. Bond sales by nonbank
companies, however, climbed 6 percent to 8.45 trillion won, according to the FSS.
Burned by a continued drop in stock prices and the local currency's plunge
against the U.S. dollar, investors shied away from share and bond offerings,
stoking funding pressures for companies and lenders.
The benchmark stock index KOSPI has dropped 5 percent so far this year, with the
won tumbling 20 percent against the greenback.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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