S.Korea Stocks Headed for Worst Week Since 2000; Samsung Falls

By Saeromi Shin

Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- South Korean stocks fell, putting the Kospi Index on course for its worst week in eight years, after a report showed the economy grew at the slowest pace in four years.

Lotte Shopping Co., the largest South Korean department- store operator, declined 4.6 percent after its earnings missed analyst estimates. Samsung Electronics Co., Asia's largest maker of computer chips, fell 1.9 percent after reporting its biggest quarterly profit drop in more than three years.

The Kospi index fell 25.63, or 2.4 percent, to 1,024.08 as of 9:39 a.m. in Seoul. The measure has fallen 13 percent this week, the biggest weekly slump since October 2000. Stocks have tumbled as mounting concerns companies will struggle to refinance debt prompted the government to announce measures to support the country's banks and construction industry.

South Korea's economy grew 0.6 percent in the third quarter, the central bank said in Seoul today, sparking concern the country is headed for its first recession since emerging from the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis.

Lotte Shopping Co., the largest South Korean department- store operator, tumbled 6.5 percent to 143,500 won. Third- quarter net profit fell 19 percent to 122.7 billion won ($88 million), less than the median analyst forecast of 153 billion won in a Bloomberg survey.

Samsung Electronics fell 1.9 percent to 463,500 won. Third- quarter net income fell 44 percent to 1.22 trillion won, the company said. It was expected to report profit of 1.27 trillion won, according to analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

To contact the reporter on this story: Saeromi Shin in Seoul at sshin15@bloomberg.net.