Fair Trade Commission: "SK Ranks 2nd in Business Hierarchy... Dunamu Designated as First Large Corporation"

Designation of 76 Publicly Announced Business Groups in 2022
Top 5 Company Rankings Change for the First Time Since 2010

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] SK has risen to second place in the business world rankings as it swapped positions with Hyundai Motor Company based on total assets. This is the first change in the rankings among the top five conglomerates since 2010.

Dunamu, which operates Upbit, the largest virtual asset (cryptocurrency) exchange in Korea, is planned to be officially designated as a large business group.

The Fair Trade Commission announced on the 27th that it plans to designate 76 business groups (with 2,886 affiliated companies) as publicly disclosed business groups effective from the 1st of next month.

The number of publicly disclosed business groups and affiliated companies increased by 5 and 274 respectively compared to last year (71 groups, 2,612 companies). Eight new large business groups were designated: Dunamu, Krafton, Boseong, KG, Iljin, OK Financial Group, Shinyoung, and Nongshim, while three groups?IMM Investment, Korea Investment Finance, and Daewoo Construction?were excluded from designation.

On the same day, among the publicly disclosed business groups, 47 groups with total assets exceeding 10 trillion KRW (with 2,108 affiliated companies) will be designated as mutual shareholding restricted business groups. The number of mutual shareholding restricted business groups increased by 7 compared to last year (40 groups), and the number of affiliated companies increased by 366 compared to last year (1,742 companies). Eight groups were newly designated: Joongheung Construction, HMM, Taeyoung, OCI, Dunamu, SeAH, Hankook Tire, and E-Land, while Korea Investment Finance was excluded from designation.

Despite the spread of COVID-19, economic activities resumed, and due to mergers and acquisitions, total assets increased significantly, and business performance also improved substantially. Total assets increased by 281.3 trillion KRW (from 2,336.4 trillion KRW to 2,617.7 trillion KRW), sales increased by 289.2 trillion KRW (from 1,344.5 trillion KRW to 1,633.7 trillion KRW), and net profit also increased by 82.3 trillion KRW (from 43.5 trillion KRW to 125.8 trillion KRW).

Total Assets of Corporate Groups with Total Assets of 5 Trillion Won or More

SK rose to second place in total assets for the first time due to increased semiconductor sales, newly established companies from physical division, and growth in the petroleum business. In the case of Dunamu, it was designated as a large business group for the first time with total assets of 10.8225 trillion KRW and customer deposits of approximately 5.812 trillion KRW.

Shipping, construction, and IT-focused groups experienced significant growth.

National shipping company HMM saw a large increase in total assets over the past year (8.8 trillion KRW → 17.8 trillion KRW), resulting in a rise of more than 20 ranks in total asset-based rankings (48th → 25th). SM (10.5 trillion KRW → 13.7 trillion KRW) and Janggeum Shipping (6.3 trillion KRW → 9.3 trillion KRW) also saw increases in total assets.

Active mergers and acquisitions continued the growth trend of construction-focused groups. Joongheung Construction more than doubled its total assets (9.2 trillion KRW → 20.3 trillion KRW) and rose more than 20 ranks in total asset-based rankings (47th → 20th).

IT-focused groups such as Kakao and Naver have maintained steady growth even after their initial designation, with most increasing their total assets compared to last year. Kakao's total assets rose from 5.1 trillion KRW in 2016, when it was first designated as a large business group, to 32.2 trillion KRW this year. Naver (2017, 6.6 trillion KRW → 19.2 trillion KRW) and Netmarble (2018, 5.7 trillion KRW → 13.3 trillion KRW) also increased.

Due to the death of the same person this year, the designated persons for LS (from Gu Jahong to Gu Jaeun) and Nexon (from Kim Jungju to Yoo Junghyun) were changed.

‘PEF-exclusive groups’ and ‘groups composed only of financial/insurance companies and PEF-related companies’ were excluded from designation this year, resulting in IMM Investment and Korea Investment Finance, which were designated as large business groups last year, being excluded this year.

The Fair Trade Commission stated, "With this designation, the application targets of large business group policies have been finalized, and we will continue to analyze and disclose information related to these groups."