South Korea’s top four conglomerates, including Samsung, continued to dominate the country’s business sector in terms of generating growth and profits last year, a local economic think tank said in a report Monday.

The Korea Economic Research Institute said the combined net earnings of the four business giants, which also include Hyundai Motor, SK and LG, accounted for 80 percent of all profits generated by the 30 largest conglomerates in the country in 2012.

The average net profit of other large business groups, however, fell below the industry average of 4.76 percent.

Sales of the 30 groups expanded 6.2 percent on-year with net earnings contracting 2.3 percent, an analysis of financial data showed.

The institute said other conglomerates from fifth to 10th place, including Lotte and steel giant POSCO, reported solid gains in profits, although their growth trailed the leading pack.

In terms of growth, companies ranking from 11th to 20th place were overtaken by conglomerates placed 21st to 30th on the overall list.

Despite the relatively poor showing by large conglomerates in general, these companies have steadily hired more workers in the past decade. Hiring of workers has become a key barometer of the social contribution made by companies in South Korea in recent years.

“In 2011, the top 30 groups had 1.02 million employees, with this rising 5.7 percent on-year to 1.08 million in 2012,” the think tank under the Federation of Korean Industries said. (Yonhap News)