First Half of Year
The market capitalization of conglomerate subsidiaries listed on the KOSPI has shown a sharp increase of approximately 350 trillion won (US$271.21 billion) compared to the beginning of the year. Particularly, 17 companies affiliated with Samsung Group recorded the largest increase, with their combined market cap growing by over 98 trillion won.
According to an analysis conducted by corporate analysis research institute Leader’s Index on 338 listed companies belonging to 73 conglomerates on Aug. 1, the total market capitalization stood at 1,773.955 trillion won as of the closing price on July 28. This marks a significant increase of 350.2184 trillion won, or 24.6 percent, compared to 1,423.7366 trillion won on Jan. 2. Among the 73 conglomerates, 44 experienced a rise in market cap, while 29 witnessed a decline.
During this period, 78 percent of the total market cap increase, amounting to 272.9293 trillion won, was attributed to 10 companies in the battery and semiconductor-related sectors, including Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and LG Energy Solution.
In the realm of market capitalization rankings for conglomerates listed on the Korean stock exchange, Samsung Group emerged as the undisputed leader. Over the course of seven months since the beginning of the year, Samsung Group demonstrated the most substantial surge in market cap. The collective market cap of 17 listed companies affiliated with Samsung Group rose from 518.0824 trillion won to 616.3197 trillion won, marking a remarkable increase of 98.2373 trillion won, or 19 percent. Among them, Samsung Electronics alone contributed a staggering 90.1437 trillion won to the overall market cap increase.
LG Group, SK Group, and Hyundai Motor Group retained their positions as the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th largest conglomerates, respectively, without any change in rankings compared to the beginning of the year.
Kakao Group, which held the 5th spot in market cap at the start of the year, fell to 7th place during this period. In contrast, companies benefiting from the surge in demand for batteries, such as POSCO Group and EcoPro Group, saw significant improvements in their rankings during this period. POSCO Group moved up from 6th to 5th place and EcoPro Group surged from 15th to 6th place.
The combined market cap of the six listed companies belonging to the POSCO Group skyrocketed from 41.9388 trillion won to 112.4911 trillion won, showing a remarkable increase of approximately 70 trillion won, or 168.2 percent. Similarly, EcoPro Group, which holds EcoPro, EcoProBM, and EcoPro HN as subsidiaries, saw its market cap rise from 12.5965 trillion won to 70.5871 trillion won, an increase of about 58 trillion won or 460.4 percent.
On the other hand, Hanwha Group secured its position among the top 11 conglomerates by surpassing a market cap of 30 trillion won, primarily due to the acquisition of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. However, Celtrion Group and Naver Group experienced a decline in their rankings from the 7th to 9th and from 8th to 10th, respectively, during this period.
Meanwhile, Amorepacific Group witnessed the most significant decrease in market cap. Its market cap dropped by 6.0310 trillion won, or 58.5 percent, to 4.4692 billion won from 10.7702 trillion won at the beginning of the year.