South Korea’s tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. has increased its presence in the local stock market with its value reaching nearly 20 percent of the total market capitalization, data showed Tuesday.

The market cap of Samsung Electronics reached 223.8 trillion won ($210.5 billion) as of Monday, or 19.26 percent of the market total and up 4.3 percentage points from end-2011, according to data compiled by the bourse operator Korea Exchange.

Samsung’s market cap had stayed below 20 percent after reaching 20.33 percent on June 25, 2004.

Samsung Electronics is estimated to have posted a record operating profit of 8.8 trillion won in the fourth quarter of 2012, soaring 88.8 percent from a revised profit of 4.66 trillion won a year earlier.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s leading automaker Hyundai Motor Co.

accounted for 3.95 percent of the aggregate market cap with 45.9 trillion won, down 0.55 percentage point from end-2011, widening its gap between the country’s No. 1 listed firm.

Hyundai Motor’s smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. held a comparable figure of 1.88 percent with 21.8 trillion won, becoming the fifth-largest listed firm.

The market cap difference between Samsung Electronics and South Korea’s two largest automakers reached an all-time high of 156 trillion won on Monday, rising sharply from 81 trillion tallied in end-2011, according to the data.

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors are the flagships of Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s fifth-largest automaker. (Yonhap News)