April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korea‘s top 10 business groups accounted for 79.1 percent of all net profits generated by companies listed on the country’s main stock exchange in 2017, the local bourse operator said on April 8.

According to the Korea Exchange (KRX), of the 533 companies checked that settled their accounts in December, profits by the 62 affiliates belonging to the country‘s 10 largest chaebol, or family-run conglomerates, totaled 90.6 trillion won (US$84.7 billion), up 57.1 percent from the 57.6 trillion won tallied in 2016.

 

Korea Exchange

It said the increase marks a 8.6 percentage-point gain from 70.5 percent reported for the previous year.

Excluding the companies belong to the 10 largest chaebol, however, net profits for firms listed on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) reached 23.9 trillion won, down 0.5 percent from a year earlier when earnings reached 24.1 trillion won.

By business group, profits posted by affiliates of Samsung, the country’s largest chaebol, stood at 43.9 trillion won last year for a surge of 86 percent on-year. The conglomerate has Samsung Electronics, the world‘s largest producer of semiconductors and smartphones, under its wing.

Corresponding numbers for the nine affiliates of SK Group hit 20.8 trillion won for an annual jump of 119.8 percent.

The latest findings also showed that LG, Lotte, Shinsegae and Hyundai Heavy Industries all posted gains in net profit in the one-year period, with Doosan Group making a turnaround from a deficit in 2016.

On the other hand, Hyundai Motor Group, the country’s leader carmaking conglomerate, along with Hanwha and GS groups, reported less net profit in 2017 vis-a-vis the previous year.

Numbers for Hyundai, which counts Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors as its affiliates, fell to 8.8 trillion won last year from 13.7 trillion won a year earlier, reflecting sluggish sales of its vehicles and other products like auto parts.


By Park Ga-young and newswires (gypark@heraldcorp.com)