S Korea's Lotte Corp soars in debut on hopes for better governance, returns

Seoul

SHARES in Lotte Corp, the new holding company for South Korea's No 5 conglomerate, soared some 45 per cent on their debut above their issue price, bolstered by hopes for better corporate governance and shareholder returns.

Although the debut comes at a difficult time for the conglomerate, which has been hit by political tensions between Beijing and Seoul, combined valuations for the group's main listed firms on Monday were some 17 per cent above levels for comparable entities in late September.