Market cap of listed firms under conglomerates surges by 25% this year

Amid a bullish trend in stock prices, the market capitalization of listed affiliates under South Korean conglomerates has witnessed a remarkable increase, surpassing 350 trillion won ($273 billion) in value since the beginning of this year.

According to market tracker Leaders Index on Tuesday, which analyzed the market cap of 338 listed companies that belong to 73 conglomerates on July 28, the total market cap stood at 1,773.95 trillion won. This figure represents a substantial growth of 24.6 percent or 350.21 trillion won compared to January 2.

Among the 73 conglomerates, 44 saw an increase in market capitalization, while 29 experienced a decrease. Notably, the top four positions in terms of market cap remained unchanged, with Samsung Group at the forefront, followed by LG Group, SK Group and Hyundai Motor Group. However, the surge in share prices of battery-related companies propelled POSCO Group to climb from the 6th to the 5th position, while EcoPro Group advanced from the 15th to the 6th spot.

The combined market cap of six listed companies under POSCO Group skyrocketed from 41.93 trillion won at the beginning of the year to 112.49 trillion won, reflecting an increase of about 70 trillion won or 168.2 percent. Similarly, EcoPro Group, comprising EcoPro, EcoPro BM, and EcoPro HN, saw its market cap soar from 12.59 trillion won to 70.58 trillion won in the same period, registering a remarkable surge of nearly 58 trillion won or 460.4 percent.

In contrast, Kakao Group, which ranked 5th in terms of market cap at the beginning of the year, dropped to the 6th. Other groups like Celltrion Group (from 7th to 9th) and Naver Group (from 8th to 10th) also experienced declines in their rankings.

Notably, of the total market cap growth of 272.93 trillion won among the analyzed companies during this period, 78 percent, or 213.33 trillion won, came from ten companies in the battery and semiconductor industries, including Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and LG Energy Solution.

Among the listed companies, Samsung Group exhibited the most significant increase in market cap since the start of this year. The total market cap of its 17 listed affiliates surged from 518.1 trillion won to 616.32 trillion won, marking a growth of 98.23 trillion won or 19.0 percent. Samsung Electronics alone contributed 90.14 trillion won to this increase.

Conversely, the business group that experienced the most significant decline in market cap was Amorepacific Group, which witnessed its figure decline from 10.77 trillion won to 4.47 trillion won, down by 6.3 trillion won or 58.5 percent.