Net profits of South Korea's top 10 business groups took up nearly 80 percent of those of all 1,345 listed South Korean companies, data showed Thursday, in the latest sign of economic domination by family-owned conglomerates.
The combined net profit of 80 listed companies affiliated with chaebol reached 36.9 trillion won ($34 billion) in the first nine months of last year, accounting for 78.1 percent of total net profits, according to FnGuide Inc., an online financial information provider, and Chaebul.com, a corporate information provider on large businesses.
The figure represents a slight increase from the full year of 2011 when the combined net profit of the conglomerates' subsidiaries reached 35.8 trillion won.
The subsidiaries generated 429.5 trillion won in sales in the January-September period last year, accounting for 54.2 percent of total sales of all listed companies, data showed.
By group, Samsung Group, South Korea's largest conglomerate, saw combined sales of its subsidiaries reach 152.5 trillion won during the period, accounting for 16.8 percent of total sales.
Samsung Electronics Co., the world's top maker of smartphones and flagship unit of Samsung Group, alone generated 103.7 trillion won in sales in the first nine months of last year, or 11.4 percent of total sales posted by all listed companies.
Samsung's growing power was also evident in its market capitalization in the local bourse.
The market cap of Samsung Electronics and 16 other Samsung subsidiaries reached 336 trillion won, or 26.5 percent of the total value of the local market.
South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. accounted for 10.3 percent of the aggregate market cap. Hyundai Motor is followed by Lotte Group which held 6.1 percent.
In a sign of expansion, the average number of subsidiaries of the top 10 conglomerates stood at 56.9 as of 2011, up more than four-fold over the past decade, according to data. (Yonhap News)
