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…