Samsung Group accounts for a quarter of Korea Inc. profit

Samsung Group and Hyundai Motor account for two fifths of Korea Inc. corporate profits. / Korea Times

What if the Samsung Group, the foremost conglomerate by any measure, were to move out of Korea? Then a fourth of the country's overall corporate profits made by listed companies would be taken with it. 

According to data of the Korea Exchange (KRX) on Sunday, Samsung Group's 12 affiliates listed to the Seoul bourse netted a total of 12 trillion won ($10.3 billion) in net profits last year. 

This amounts to 25.1 percent of 47.7 trillion won, the combined net income from 565 corporations listed on the main bourse, up by 7.4 percentage points from 17.7 percent in 2007. 

The proportion of Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, the No. 2 player, almost doubled in the aftermath of the global financial crisis from a mere 6.4 percent in 2007 to 12.2 percent last year. 

The nation's five largest chaebol, including SK, LG and Lotte on top of Samsung and Hyundai, carved out 60.9 percent of corporate profits last year, up 21.5 percentage points from 39.4 percent in 2007. 

``The proportion of sales and market capitalizations of the conglomerates have not risen so fast over the past two years in the wake of the economic downturn,'' said an official at the KRX. 

``However, the portion of their profits rocketed as profitability in the info-tech and automobile industries dramatically improved thanks to the demise of some of their rivals over the recession.''