Operating profit for major conglomerates in Q2 doubles to $44 billion

Industry

Operating profit for major conglomerates in Q2 doubles to $44 billion

Published: 15 Aug. 2024, 17:08

Samsung Electronics' office building in Seocho District in southern Seoul on April 16. [YONHAP]

Major companies in Korea saw their second-quarter operating income more than double from a year earlier, driven by strong performances in the semiconductor sector, a corporate tracker said Thursday.

The combined net profit of 334 of the country's top 500 companies by sales reached 59.4 trillion won ($43.6 billion) for the April-June period, up 107.1 percent from 28.7 trillion won a year ago, according to CEO Score.

Their total sales increased 7 percent on year to 779.5 trillion won from 728.6 trillion won over the cited period.

The corporations cover those that have disclosed their quarterly financial statements for the first quarter as of Wednesday.

The country's two leading chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix led the overall increase for the second quarter on rising demand for AI semiconductors, such as high bandwidth memory from U.S. tech giants like Nvidia.

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chipmaker, posted 10.4 trillion won in operating profit for the three-month period ending in June, soaring from 668.5 billion won a year earlier.

This solidified its position as the company with the highest quarterly operating profit in Korea.

SK hynix's operating profit amounted to 5.5 trillion won for the second quarter, turning from an operating loss of 2.9 trillion won a year earlier.

As a result, SK hynix moved into second place in terms of operating profit, surpassing automotive giants Hyundai Motor and Kia, which reported operating profit of 4.3 trillion won and 3.6 trillion won, respectively.

On the other hand, SK On, a battery manufacturing unit under SK Group, marked the biggest operating loss of 460.2 billion won during the period amid declining global demand for electric vehicles.

The chemical sector also faced difficulties, with Lotte Chemical and Hanwha Solutions recording operating losses of 111.2 billion won and 107.8 billion won, respectively.

Yonhap