A Total of 61 Women-Led Companies Listed on KOSDAQ Last Year

Doubled Compared to 5 Years Ago

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Last year, the total number of women-led companies listed on KOSDAQ was 61. This figure has doubled compared to five years ago in 2016. On the 13th, the Women's Economic Research Institute (Chairperson Jung Yoon-sook) announced this through the 'WERI Brief' published under the theme 'Status and Characteristics of Women-led Companies Listed on KOSDAQ.'

According to this report, which analyzed industries, company size, types of executives, number of employees, location, business experience, and finances for companies with female CEOs, the total number of companies listed on the KOSDAQ market as of July 2020 was 1,409, of which 61 had female CEOs.

Among these, an analysis of 54 companies with available corporate information showed that companies in the pharmaceutical industry accounted for the largest share (16.7%), followed by chemical industry (13.0%), and IT hardware industry (11.1%). Regarding company size, 40 companies (74.1%) were small and medium-sized enterprises, with a combined market capitalization of 9.13 trillion KRW. The type of executives showed that 28 companies (51.9%) operated under an 'owner-executive' system, managed by the founding family.

In terms of number of employees, companies with fewer than 100 employees (37.0%) were the most common, followed by those with 100 to fewer than 200 employees (25.9%). Regarding location, 41 companies (75.9%) had their headquarters in the metropolitan area (Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi). The average business experience was 25.1 years, with 19 companies (35.2%) having between 11 and 20 years of experience, the largest group. The average assets per company were 132.3 billion KRW, with 43 companies (79.6%) holding assets of 50 billion KRW or more. The average liabilities per company were 40.7 billion KRW, with 43 companies having liabilities under 50 billion KRW. The average sales revenue was 92.4 billion KRW, with 28 companies (51.9%) reporting sales of 50 billion KRW or more.

Chairperson Jung Yoon-sook stated, "More female executives creating high added value must emerge so that women can become a core driving force of national economic growth," adding, "We will take the lead in creating an ecosystem where promising early-stage women-led startups can grow into KOSDAQ-listed companies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.