Drugmaker Celltrion top market-cap gainer over decade

The market value of biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion Inc. has risen the most among South Korea's 100 largest listed companies by market cap over the past decade, with manufacturers of domestic-oriented consumer goods making strides, a market tracker said Wednesday.

Celltrion's market capitalization stood at 12.6 trillion won ($11.1 billion) as of Oct. 2 this year, over 700 times more than its value of a mere 17.4 billion won on Oct. 4, 2006, according to CEO Score that tracks corporate performances in the country.

Leading furniture maker Hanssem Co. saw its market cap skyrocket 2,790 percent to 4.2 trillion won over the cited period, with the market cap of AmorePacific Group spiking 2,782 percent to 13.4 trillion won.

In terms of market-cap growth, Komipharm International Co. came next with 1,723 percent, trailed by LG Household and Healthcare Ltd. with 1,164 percent, top mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp. with 813 percent and cosmetics giant AmorePacific with 778 percent.

Out of the top 10 gainers in market value, four were pharmaceutical companies and three were cosmetics manufacturers, which analysts said points to the fact that makers of domestic-oriented consumer goods have led the stock market's growth over the past decade.

Doosan Corp., Hotel Shilla Co., Samsung C&T Corp. and 35 other companies newly made the list of the top 100 companies in terms of market capitalization.

Drugmakers, daily supply manufacturers, service companies and petrochemical companies led the gain in the stock market cap, while trading companies, machinery makers, shipbuilders, telecom firms and banks saw their market value drop sharply.

Over the cited period, the combined market value of the top 100 companies surged 79.5 percent to 1,037.1 trillion won from 577.7 trillion won, according to CEO Score. (Yonhap)