Top 10 conglomerates’ sales equal 76% of GDP

The combined sales of 10 major business groups in 2011 were equivalent to 76 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, an online financial data provider showed Monday.

According to the chaebul.com, total sales of the 10 largest conglomerates including Samsung and Hyundai Motor reached 946.1 trillion won ($837.2 billion) last year.

The figure corresponds to 76.5 percent of Korea’s 2011 GDP of 1.23 quadrillion won.

The portion of the 10 conglomerates’ sales as part of GDP stood at 53.4 percent in 2002. It continued to rise and reached 63.8 percent in 2008.

By business group, Samsung recorded the biggest sales at 270.8 trillion won, or 21.9 percent of GDP, followed by Hyundai Motor with 12.6 percent of GDP.

Other players were SK with 11.7 percent, LG with 9 percent, GS with 5.4 percent, Hyundai Heavy Industries with 5 percent, Lotte with 4.5 percent, Hanwha with 2.8 percent, Hanjin with 1.9 percent and Doosan with 1.7 percent.

The 10 conglomerates’ assets rapidly expanded over the past decade ― from 294.2 trillion won to 963.4 trillion won in 2011. Research analysts predicted that their collective sales will surpass 1 quadrillion won this year.

Meanwhile, market capitalization of Samsung Electronics on the main bourse has reached 208 trillion won ($183.3 billion). This sum is similar to the GDP levels of New Zealand, Peru and Romania.

But some of the major conglomerates grappled with worsening business conditions last year.

According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service and FnGuide, a financial information site, LG Group’s nine subsidiaries posted a combined net profit of 2.7 trillion won in 2011, down 64.2 percent from a year earlier. Their operating profit also fell 40.1 percent to 4.5 trillion won.

The 12 affiliates of Samsung Group saw their collective net profit decline 17.8 percent to 17.3 trillion won in 2011 on a year-on-year basis.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)