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THE INVESETOR] The cash reserves of South Korea’s top 100 large-cap companies have more than doubled over the past year, according to the data on Dec. 21.
The leading companies had combined cash reserves of 55.2 trillion won (US$46.20 billion) as of the end of September, up 118 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by market tracker CEO Score.
The jump in their cash reserves was attributed to a combination of increased operating profit and a tumble in capital spending, despite near-stagnant sales growth.
In the first nine months of this year, the firms’ combined sales inched up 1.4 percent on-year to 999.8 trillion won, but their operating income jumped 16.7 percent to 64.6 trillion won. In contrast, their capital expenditure plunged 21.4 percent to 67.3 trillion won.
(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)