00:03A.I. Prism from Seoul Economic Daily
00:06Doosan FuelCell just won $823.6 billion, about $624 million, in U.S. AI data center orders,
00:16yet still had to raise $400 billion, or roughly $300 million, in emergency financing.
00:22Kakao's CFO stood in front of shareholders today and flatly denied rumors of a block
00:27deal, a third-party share issuance, or any subsidiary sale.
00:31In Taiwan, Micron's workforce, more than 80 percent of local staff, is set to walk out
00:37on October 22 over profit-sharing demands.
00:40Morgan Stanley now projects Big Tech's free cash flow deficit at $540 billion next year,
00:47even as capital spending jumped 60 percent.
00:49And global borrowing costs just hit multi-decade highs, with the U.S. 30-year yield at 5.31 percent.
00:56It's Wednesday, October 21.
00:59Let's look at a business story shaping corporate Korea.
01:02Korean companies riding the AI infrastructure boom are discovering that winning orders and
01:07having the cash to fulfill them are two very different problems.
01:11Doosan FuelCell landed a wave of U.S. data center contracts this year, but its balance sheet
01:17deteriorated sharply, as it had to fund production well before receiving payment.
01:21At the same time, Kakao is trying to reassure investors ahead of a major corporate split,
01:27while Micron's Taiwan operations face a labor standoff that could disrupt global chip supply.
01:33Here's what the numbers show.
01:35Doosan FuelCell's debt ratio jumped from 226.1 percent to about 346 percent by June, before
01:43this month's $400 billion won bond sale aims to bring it back toward the mid-130s.
01:48The company's operating loss widened to $52.2 billion won, or about $40 million, in the
01:54first half, even as it booked $823.6 billion won in new U.S. orders.
02:00Only 20 percent of that order value arrives up front, leaving the company to fund production
02:05before the remaining $659 billion won, or about $499 million, is paid out through 2028.
02:12Kakao's CFO, Xin Zhonghuan, told shareholders the company has never considered a third-party
02:18share issuance for its new Kakao AI entity.
02:21Kakao also pledged to tie executive pay to shareholder value once it's split into Kakao
02:26X and Kakao AI closes, with a December vote on the table.
02:31Micron's Taiwan Union, representing over 80 percent of local staff at a site producing roughly
02:37half the company's global chip output, votes to strike on October 22nd.
02:42Morgan Stanley projects Hyperscaler and NeoCloud CapEx at $1.58 trillion next year, up 60 percent,
02:50while combined free cash flow deficits hit $540 billion.
02:53The U.S. 30-year Treasury yield climbed to 5.31 percent this month, the highest level
03:00since 2007, raising financing costs for any company issuing new debt.
03:05So what does this mean for executives running operations in Korea?
03:10Earlier we said Doosan Fuel Cell's order win came with a financing scramble attached.
03:15Here's what that actually means for you.
03:17Revenue growth and balance sheet health are no longer the same story.
03:21And boards should be stress testing working capital needs before celebrating new contract wins.
03:27With Kakao fighting rumor-driven volatility and Micron facing a labor deadline,
03:32governance clarity and supply chain contingency planning are now board-level agenda items.
03:37Micron's Taiwan strike deadline on October 22nd and any resulting production disruption.
03:43Kakao's December shareholder vote on it split into Kakao X and Kakao AI.
03:48Doosan Fuel Cell's year-end debt ratio once the new $400 billion one in perpetual bonds settles.
03:54That's today's AI Prism CEO.
03:57This episode was produced with AI assistance based on Seoul Economic Daily reporting
04:02and reviewed by a human editor.
04:04AI Prism is a Juan Ifra award-winning series.
04:07We'll be back tomorrow.
04:09You've been listening to AI Prism from Seoul Economic Daily.
04:12AI Prism is a Jay Prism.
04:16다음 영상에서 만나요.
