Foreign Investors Hold 43% Of Top 10 Korean Companies

Foreign investors hold more than 43 percent of Korea's 10 largest conglomerates' total market value, the Korea Stock Exchange said Thursday. In particular, they own more than half of Pohang Iron & Steel Co. and two subsidiaries of the Samsung Group.

As of Wednesday, three years after the nation abolished the ceiling on foreign ownership of local shares, overseas investors held some 2.8 billion shares listed on the stock market, valued at 79.4 trillion won ($61.8 billion), the exchange said.

Foreigners owned 14.7 percent of all listed stocks, 32.4 percent of their total value, the highest ever.

The number of shares held by foreign investors has climbed 135 percent since May 23, 1998, when the government lifted restrictions on foreign investment in local equities.

The value of those stocks jumped 470 percent during the same period.

The exchange said the value of foreign-held shares grew so large because overseas investors focused on large-capitalized blue chips.

Among the 10 biggest conglomerates, Pohang Iron & Steel Co. showed the highest percentage of foreign ownership with 59.2 percent, up from 25 percent three years ago, followed by the Samsung Group and SK Group.

Foreign investors owned an average 29.5 percent of the Samsung Group's 14 listed affiliates. In particular, they held 58.7 percent of Samsung Electronics Co. and 59.6 percent of Cheil Communications Inc.

Overseas holdings in SK Group units stood at 44 percent, mirroring foreign investors' rush to SK Telecom.

by Kim Hyun-chul