Top 10 Chaebol Listed Companies Surpass 1,000 Trillion KRW in Cumulative Q3 Sales for the First Time

[Data Analysis by Heejin Lim]

Operating Profit of 97 Companies Surpasses 100 Trillion Won by Q3... Twice Last Year’s Amount

Export Surge and Improved Quality Competitiveness... Sales Led by Samsung, Hyundai Motor, and SK

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] The cumulative sales of listed companies in the top 10 groups exceeded 1,000 trillion won for the first time through the third quarter this year.

Operating profit also doubled compared to last year, surpassing 100 trillion won. With exports increasing, the companies achieved record-breaking results beyond the base effect caused by COVID-19 last year.

On the 18th, Asia Economy analyzed the cumulative sales and operating profits of 97 listed companies from the top 10 groups up to the third quarter. Total sales amounted to 1,110.1619 trillion won, and operating profit was 104.4164 trillion won. These figures represent increases of 19.4% and 99.9%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. Financial and REITs companies were excluded.

The growth in performance was steeper than a simple rebound effect from the COVID-19-related downturn. In 2019, before the pandemic, the cumulative sales of the top 10 groups’ listed companies by the third quarter were 973.2626 trillion won, failing to surpass 1,000 trillion won. Operating profit was also significantly below 100 trillion won at 56.35 trillion won. Last year, cumulative sales by Q3 were 929.5893 trillion won, and operating profit was 52.2181 trillion won.

Based on sales this year, Samsung Group maintained its dominant first place by generating 272.4963 trillion won through 12 listed companies. Following were Hyundai Motor Group (11 companies) with 225.317 trillion won, SK Group (20 companies) with 174.4822 trillion won, LG Group (13 companies) with 155.3746 trillion won, POSCO Group (6 companies) with 83.0185 trillion won, Hanwha Group (4 companies) with 52.5455 trillion won, Hyundai Heavy Industries Group (8 companies) with 46.4555 trillion won, Lotte Group (10 companies) with 43.8058 trillion won, GS Group (6 companies) with 30.7781 trillion won, and Shinsegae Group (7 companies) with 25.8885 trillion won.

The year-on-year sales growth rates were highest for POSCO (36%), LG (33%), SK (19.2%), Hyundai Motor (18.8%), Samsung (15.2%), Hyundai Heavy Industries (14.2%), Shinsegae (13.8%), Lotte (12.4%), Hanwha (8.7%), and GS (8.6%). This year, POSCO Group’s performance surged significantly as the steel industry is expected to achieve record-high results. This was due to rising steel prices following the recovery in demand from downstream industries after COVID-19.

Operating profit was overwhelmingly led by Samsung Group at 41.4446 trillion won, with Samsung Electronics alone contributing 37.7671 trillion won. Next were SK with 16.9478 trillion won, LG with 14.9832 trillion won, Hyundai Motor with 13.974 trillion won, POSCO with 7.4935 trillion won, Hanwha with 3.2512 trillion won, Lotte with 2.6295 trillion won, GS with 2.5717 trillion won, Shinsegae with 746.9 billion won, and Hyundai Heavy Industries Group with 374.2 billion won.

The year-on-year operating profit growth rates were SK (396.1%), POSCO (270.2%), Shinsegae (231.5%), Hyundai Motor (225.3%), Lotte (138.3%), LG (90%), GS (70.1%), Hanwha (47.5%), Samsung (42.9%), and Hyundai Heavy Industries (-31.2%).

SK Group posted operating profits about four times higher than last year, driven by improved performances of major affiliates such as SK Innovation and SK Hynix. While POSCO showed a sharp recovery in performance due to rising steel prices, Hyundai Heavy Industries Group was the only one to experience a decline in operating profit, as major affiliates like Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering recorded losses amid increases in thick plate prices.

Lee Sang-ho, head of the Economic Policy Team at the Korea Economic Research Institute, said, "While part of the performance improvement can be attributed to the base effect from COVID-19 last year, the significant recovery in export demand centered on advanced countries and the improved quality competitiveness of domestic companies, which enhanced profit margins, played a major role."

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