"14 Domestic Century-Old Companies... Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance Tops Asset Growth Rate"

CEO Score, Growth Rate Comparison of 11 Companies Over 100 Years Since Founding
11 Domestic Centenarian Companies, 7x Asset Increase in 21 Years

Photo of Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance Taepyeongno Building. [Photo by Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Yeju] Fourteen companies in South Korea boast a history of 100 years. Among them, the total assets of 11 companies increased more than sevenfold from 132 trillion won to 940 trillion won over the past 21 years, and their sales also grew about fourfold from 19 trillion won to 74 trillion won.

On the 4th, CEO Score, a corporate data research institute, compared the growth trends of 11 out of 14 domestic companies that have surpassed their 100th anniversary as of October 2022 and whose financial status can be compared from 2000 to last year. During this period, the assets of these centennial companies increased by 611.1%, and sales (operating revenue) rose by 290.6%.

The survey showed that the assets of the 11 centennial companies increased from 132.17 trillion won to 939.857 trillion won, and sales rose from 18.943 trillion won to 73.991 trillion won. These 11 centennial companies, which posted a deficit of minus 2.279 trillion won in 2000 due to the aftermath of the foreign exchange crisis, recorded a net profit of 6.241 trillion won in 2021.

Among the 11 centennial companies, Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance had the highest asset growth rate, increasing from 1.649 trillion won in 2000 to 27.689 trillion won last year, a 1579.5% increase. Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank followed with asset growth rates of 814.1% and 471.5%, respectively.

Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance also had the highest sales (operating revenue) growth rate among the 11 centennial companies. Operating revenue, which was about 1.558 trillion won in 2000, rose to 11.861 trillion won last year, a 661.4% growth. Doosan and Shinhan Bank followed with growth rates of 420.7% and 327.9%, respectively.

In terms of net profit, Doosan ranked first with an increase rate of 46,116.0%. Monggo Food recorded a high growth rate of 7,556.9%, and Shinhan Bank also showed a net profit growth rate of 2,410.5%.

The market capitalization of six centennial companies listed on the Korea Stock Exchange increased by 1,405.2%, from 428.3 billion won on December 26, 2000, to 6.4468 trillion won on September 1 of this year.

The employment growth rate of the 11 companies was 25.7%, and the average salary per employee increased by 210.4%. The average length of service of employees also increased by 2.7 years compared to 21 years ago. Doosan had the highest average salary increase rate per employee at 272.4%, followed by KR Motors and Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance at 271.3% and 224.8%, respectively. Dongwha Pharmaceutical had the longest increase in average length of service at 6.6 years, ranking first, followed by Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance and Doosan with increases of 4.9 years and 4.7 years, ranking second and third, respectively.

Meanwhile, the companies surveyed include Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance, which celebrated its 100th anniversary on the 1st of this month, as well as Gangwon Passenger Automobile, Kyungbang, Gwangjang, Dongwha Pharmaceutical, Doosan, Monggo Food, Sungchang Enterprise Holdings, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, and KR Motors. Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance was established in 1922 as Joseon Fire & Marine Insurance. Daeryuk GS was excluded from this survey because its first financial report submission year was 2012, and Chosun Ilbo and Dong-A Ilbo were not included because their business nature differs from that of general companies.

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