Top 50 Korean Groups Reach 5,400 Trillion Won in Market Cap as Assets Are Overtaken

The combined market capitalization of Korea’s 50 largest business groups has surged over the past five years and exceeded their fair asset value for the first time. Strong share-price gains at major groups including Samsung, SK and Doosan pushed the total market cap to around 5,400 trillion won. Over the same period, market capitalization increased 187%, while assets rose 51%. As a result, the market-cap-to-asset ratio climbed from 0.87 times to 1.66 times. By group, Doosan posted the highest ratio at 4.39 times, followed by SK and Samsung. The figures show that market valuation has reflected growth expectations and stock performance more strongly than asset size. Source: mk.co.kr