Samsung Group headquarters in southern Seoul. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Korea Bizwire) – The combined aggregate value of affiliates belonging to Samsung Group, South Korea’s largest family-run conglomerate, surged 38 trillion won (US$33.3 billion) in the past month, helped by so-called earning surprises in the third quarter, market data showed Sunday.
According to market researcher FN Guide, six out of 11 listed Samsung affiliates exceeded earnings expectations. Of these, four posted “earning surprises,” in which their profits exceeded forecasts by more than 10 percent.
Operating profits generated by Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest mobile phonemaker, exceeded expectations by 12.45 percent in the third quarter, while numbers for Samsung Heavy Industries, Samsung SDI Co. and Samsung Fine Chemicals Co. all topped forecasts by wide margins.
The total value of Samsung Electronics rose 35 trillion won to just under 202.1 trillion won at the end of October, up from around 167 trillion won a month earlier.
This increase was helped in part by management’s decision to buy back a large number of the company’s own shares, which caused its stock prices to rise for the past nine trading sessions.’
Helped by a surge in stock prices of the conglomerate’s flagship company, the aggregate equity value of share prices for 16 listed companies belonging to the business empire stood at 324.15 trillion won as of late last month, up from 285.69 trillion a month earlier.
Despite the overall gains Samsung Engineering Co. posted 1.5 trillion won in operating losses that shocked the market, while numbers for Hotel Shilla, Samsung SDS, Samsung Card and Cheil Worldwide failed to meet earlier expectations.
Of the country’s top four conglomerates, market data showed SK Group did relatively well in the third quarter, while Hyundai Motor Group and LG posted mediocre earnings in the third quarter.
In regards to SK Group, which is involved in telecommunications, energy and semiconductors, four of the seven listed affiliates exceeded market expectations.
Of Hyundai Motor Group’s eight listed companies, Kia Motors Corp. and Hyundai Rotem Co. posted market surprises, but flagship Hyundai Motor Co, as well as Hyundai Wia Corp. and Hyundai Steel failed to meet expectations.
In particular, the operating profit of Hyundai Motors stood at just 1.5 trillion won, the lowest reading in five years.
Hyundai is the world’s fifth largest automotive conglomerate.
Market data then showed of LG’s nine affiliates traded on the stock exchange, LG Life Sciences Ltd. posted an earning surprise.
On the other hand, LG International Corp., LG Display and LG Uplus Corp. fared badly during the three-month period.
Assessing third quarter earnings, Jang Hee-jong, an analyst at Hana Financial Investment Co. said that while certain sectors were struggling, some large companies did good business.
“Despite this, the overall market has not really improved so it remains to be seen if the gains can be maintained down the line,” he said.
(Yonhap)
