KEPCO named No.1 global public firm in electric utility

The state-run Korea Electric Power Co., the nation’s largest utility giant, was ranked 97th for 2016 in an annual ranking of the top 2,000 public companies in the world, released by Forbes, a U.S. business magazine. The surveyor said the ranking was based on a mix of four metrics -- sales, profit, assets and market value.

It is the first time for KEPCO to enter the top 100 list in the survey. The firm was ranked 197th last year. In addition, the Korean utility giant topped in the electric utility sector, beating longtime global winners like French utility giant EDF and German rival E.ON.

The improved performance was the main contributor to the recent leap of KEPCO in the global survey, a company spokesperson said.

Backed by a rise in electricity bill in 2013, operating profit of KEPCO has continued to rise for the three consecutive years reaching up to 4.4 trillion won ($3.7 billion). The debt-to-equity ratio of KEPCO also dropped to 99.9 percent last year from 135.8 percent in 2013.

KEPCO was the only global utility firm to be rated “AA-” by the global top three credit rating agencies including Standard & Poor’s, Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service.

By Seo Jee-yeon (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)