Corporate Earnings Slumped During First Quarter of 2001

Korea's publicly-traded companies are bearing the brunt of the economic downturn, says a report that shows a sharp decline in earnings for the first three months of this year.

According to the report, released Thursday by the Korea Stock Exchange and the Korea Listed Companies Association, 551 firms that closed their books for the fiscal year in December saw first-quarter sales increase an average of 7.5 percent from the same period last year, but their net profits declined 61.7 percent.

Companies listed on the Kosdaq market fared even worse, with first-quarter sales up 7 percent, but net income plummeting 87 percent.

The report attributes the poor earnings performance to the depressed economy, the weak Korean currency and losses from stock investments.

Samsung Electronics Co. led the pack with a net profit of more than 1.2 trillion won ($922 million), accounting for a third of total earnings by all listed firms.

Following the chipmaker were, in declining order, Korea Electric Power Corp., SK Telecom Co., Korea Telecom Corp., Korea Gas Corp. and Hyundai Motor Co., which posted first quarter profits of more than 250 billion won each.

Hynix Semiconductor Inc. turned in the worst performance, with a net loss of 538.8 billion won.

by Chung Jeh-hong