Sales by Korea's 10 largest conglomerates fell at a sharper rate than the corporate average last year, the latest industry figures showed Sunday.
The Korea Exchange and online financial information provider FnGuide said sales at 68 of the top 10 groups' listed affiliates, which closed their accounting books in December, stood at 1,010.7 trillion won ($880.4 billion) in terms of consolidated financial statements last year, marking an on-year reduction of 3.31 percent.
Consumers at Lotte Department Store (Yonhap)
The falling rate compared with an average drop of 3.01 percent recorded by all companies listed on the Korea Stock Composite Price Index (KOSPI). Sales of companies listed on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market increased by 6.35 percent on average.
By conglomerate, seven of the top 10 groups suffered sales reductions, whereas the GS, Hanwha and Hyundai Motor groups registered sales increases of 11.49 percent, 8.1 percent and 4.25 percent, respectively.
Notably, SK Group suffered a dive of 15.73 percent, while POSCO and Hyundai Heavy Industries also reported double-digit falls of 11.39 percent and 10.02 percent, respectively.
Sales falls at the Samsung and Lotte groups amounted to 4.21 percent and 4.14 percent, respectively. Samsung Electronics' sales fell from 206.2 trillion won in 2014 to 200.6 trillion won last year.
"Korea's export industries are struggling with excessive investments amid a prolonged global economic slump. To overcome such structural problems, they should carry out restructuring and find new killer products," a Samsung Securities researcher said.
Meanwhile, the 68 listed companies' operating profits jumped 7.7 percent on-year to 64.2 trillion won in 2015, but the growth rate was still lower than the corresponding figures of KOSPI and Kosdaq companies, which stood at 14.22 percent and 8.66 percent, respectively. (Yonhap)