South Korean conglomerates have stepped up their capital spending in the first half of the year, data showed Wednesday, moving in line with government efforts to stimulate the country's slowing growth.

The combined spending by 266 affiliates under the top 30 local business groups came to 38.78 trillion won ($32.7 billion) during the January-June period, up 31.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by corporate researcher CEO Score.

Expenditures in equipment and facilities jumped 34 percent to 35.17 trillion won, while those for research and development as well as intellectual property purposes climbed 11.1 percent to 3.64 trillion won over the cited period, the data showed.  

The government has been pushing to rev up growth amid worse-than-expected economic prospects. Earlier, the government downgraded this year's growth forecast to 3.1 percent from the previous 3.8 percent, citing weak consumption in the wake of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak as well as a drop in exports.

Among the conglomerates, Hyundai Motor Group extended its investment most with a focus on new car model inventions. The world's No. 5 auto giant raised its spending by more than 3.2-fold to 10 trillion won in the six-month period, the data showed.

Samsung Group, the country's leading family-run conglomerate, spent 10.33 trillion won, up 27.8 percent from the year before, while SK Group and LG Group raised their spending by 12 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively, to 5.46 trillion won and 3.5 trillion won, according to the data.

In contrast, 11 of the 30 conglomerates studied by CEO Score cut back on their spending in the same period. They include shipbuilders, steelmakers and oil refiners, all of which are currently struggling amid an industry-wide slump.

POSCO slashed spending by 22.8 percent to 1.06 trillion won, and S-Oil Corp.'s expenditures also backtracked 36.6 percent to 226.5 billion won, according to the data. (Yonhap)