À̹ÌÁö È®´ë South Korea¡¯s big companies have added more than 17 trillion won ($15 billion) in their free cash flows this year as they withheld investment amid uncertainties from the pandemic.
Of 500 large companies, 259 publicly trading entities reported a combined free cash flow of 28.1 trillion won as of the end of September, nearly tripled from 10.7 trillion won from a year ago, according to a study published by local business tracker CEO Score on Wednesday.
Samsung Electronics held the biggest cash reserve of 4.3 trillion won as of the end of September.
More than a half or 143 firms increased their cash hoard.
SK Hynix reported the biggest increase of 2.9 trillion won in cash reserve versus negative 4.9 trillion won a year ago.
À̹ÌÁö È®´ë [Photo by Yonhap]
Among those who added 1 trillion won or more are Samsung Electronics (3.99 trillion won), LG Chem (3.33 trillion won), Korea Electric Power (2.66 trillion won), Samsung Securities (2.29 trillion won), Mirae Asset Daewoo (2.05 trillion won), Meritz Securities (1.88 trillion won), Hyundai Motor (1.08 trillion won), and E-Mart (1.07 trillion won).
The top five firms with largest free cash flow in the third quarter are Samsung Electronics (4.3 trillion won), Korea Electric Power (2.6 trillion won), Mirae Asset Daewoo (2.6 trillion won), SK Hynix (2.5 trillion won), and LG Chem (2.4 trillion won).
Of the total 22 industries, 13 had free cash flow expanded. The IT and electric sector showed the biggest gain of 13.2 trillion won, followed by petrochemical with 5.5 trillion won and securities 3.9 trillion won.
Nine sectors experienced a fall. Free cash flow in the insurance sector fell by 5.95 trillion won, shipbuilding and equipment by 2.7 trillion won, and automobile and parts 1.9 trillion won.
By Pulse
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