Top 30 firms’ debts twice cash assets

The debt of the nation’s top 30 conglomerates was twice as big as their cash assets, data showed on Sunday, raising concerns over their financial health.

The top 30 listed groups, except for state-owned firms and privatized public enterprises, posted 118.5 trillion won ($96.6 billion) of debts in total while 59.3 trillion won of cash, only 48.1 percent of their debts, was reported as of the end of 2009, according to data from chaebul.com.

The average debt ratio of the 30 firms also was 153.6 percent, the conglomerate information provider added.

Experts raised concerns over the firms’ rising debts as the government plans to implement exit strategy and the central bank to raise key interest rate as the country’s economic recovery speeds up.

“Companies with considerable amounts of debt could have to pay a lot of money if the interest rate goes up. And some companies would feel pressure in operating their businesses in the second half,” an analyst said.

Samsung, the country’s biggest conglomerate, had the biggest cash assets with 14.3 trillion won ($11.6 billion), followed by Hyundai Motor and SK with 7.5 and 5.8 trillion won, respectively.