CEO Score, Survey of Top 100 Companies in Both Countries
Taiwan Leads with 86 Trillion Won, Surpassing Korea's 71 Trillion
Impact of TSMC Surpassing Samsung Electronics
Over the past decade, the market capitalization and operating profit of the top 100 companies in South Korea have been overtaken by the top 100 companies in Taiwan.
On the 17th, CEO Score, a corporate data research institute, conducted a survey targeting the top 100 companies by market capitalization in South Korea and Taiwan (excluding financial industries, holding companies, and special purpose companies). The operating profit of South Korea's top 100 companies decreased by 18.8%, from 88.1953 trillion KRW at the end of 2013 to 71.6491 trillion KRW at the end of 2023.
In contrast, during the same period, the operating profit of Taiwan's top 100 companies increased by 136.6%, from 36.3947 trillion KRW to 86.096 trillion KRW, surpassing South Korean companies.
Market capitalization of South Korea's top 100 companies rose by 88.9%, from 828.6898 trillion KRW at the end of 2013 to 1,565.4222 trillion KRW at the end of 2023. During the same period, Taiwan's top 100 companies' market capitalization surged by 205%, from 540.9574 trillion KRW to 1,694.87 trillion KRW, overtaking South Korean companies.
This is largely attributed to the trends in market capitalization and operating profit of the representative companies of both countries, Samsung Electronics and TSMC. At the end of last year, the market capitalization of Samsung Electronics and TSMC were 468.6279 trillion KRW and 645.5566 trillion KRW respectively, with TSMC leading Samsung Electronics by about 177 trillion KRW.
Compared to 10 years ago in 2013, Samsung Electronics' market capitalization increased by 131.9%, from 202.0947 trillion KRW to 266.5332 trillion KRW, while TSMC's market capitalization grew by 571.4%, from 96.1509 trillion KRW to 549.4057 trillion KRW. During the same period, Samsung Electronics' operating profit decreased from 36.785 trillion KRW to 6.567 trillion KRW, whereas TSMC's operating profit increased fivefold from 7.7238 trillion KRW to 38.6278 trillion KRW.
Until 2021, Samsung Electronics led TSMC in operating profit. In 2021, Samsung Electronics' operating profit was 51.6339 trillion KRW, while TSMC's was 26.6492 trillion KRW. However, in 2022, TSMC's operating profit rose to 48.596 trillion KRW, and Samsung Electronics' operating profit fell to 43.377 trillion KRW, marking the beginning of TSMC's overtaking.
Last year, the industry with the largest market capitalization share among the top 100 companies in both countries was IT and electrical electronics, including Samsung Electronics and TSMC. The market capitalization of 15 South Korean IT and electrical electronics companies was 766.1971 trillion KRW, accounting for 48.9% of the top 100 companies. In Taiwan, 61 IT and electrical electronics companies recorded a market capitalization of 1,276.6667 trillion KRW, making up 77.4% of the top 100 companies.
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