S. Korean sales of equity-linked securities dive in H1

SEOUL, July 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's issuances of equity-linked securities
plunged 74 percent in the first half of this year from a year earlier as
investors remained wary due to falling returns, a security depository said
Sunday.
Local brokerages sold a total of 4.1 trillion won (US$3.3 billion) worth of the
financial instrument in the January-June period, compared with 15.6 trillion won
the same period last year, according to the Korea Securities Depository (KSD).
Equity-linked securities are hybrid debt securities whose return is connected to
an underlying equity.
Redemption upon maturity also dropped sharply, with securities firms paying out a
total of 5.6 trillion won in the cited period, down 24 percent from a year
earlier, the KSD said.
The plunges are attributable to investor fears sparked by equity-linked
securities' huge losses last year on the back of slumping stock prices.
The local key index KOSPI slid nearly 40 percent in 2008, weighed down by global
financial turmoil.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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