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Combined operating profit of top 500 Korean firms jumps 66% in 2024, mainly on chip boom

Published: 26 Mar. 2025, 09:41

SK Hynix president Kwak Noh-jung speaks at a seminar held in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Feb. 19. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The combined operating profit of Korea's top 500 companies surged 66 percent from a year earlier in 2024, driven largely by a rebound in the global semiconductor market, a report showed Wednesday.

According to the report from corporate tracker CEO Score, the total operating profit of the top 500 firms reached 183.7 trillion won ($125.3 billion) in 2024, up from 110.6 trillion won the previous year.

The companies' combined annual sales rose 5.8 percent to 2,523 trillion won from 2,384 trillion won in 2023. Net profit jumped 74.5 percent over the same period.

The sharp rise in operating profit was led mainly by the strong performance from chipmakers SK hynix and Samsung Electronics amid robust demand for AI memory products.

SK hynix recorded the largest growth, swinging to an operating profit of 23.5 trillion won from a 7.7 trillion-won loss in 2023, marking a gain of over 31.2 trillion won.

The company benefited from soaring demand for high bandwidth memory (HBM), a key component for AI semiconductors.

Samsung Electronics posted the second-largest increase, with its operating profit rising by 26.2 trillion won on the back of improved business conditions in the sector, according to CEO Score.

Other major contributors to the combined operating profit growth included Korea Electric Power, whose profit increased by 12.9 trillion won, followed by HMM with a 2.9 trillion-won rise, LG Display with 1.9 trillion won and Korea Gas with 1.5 trillion won.

Yonhap