Korea’s tobacco monopoly KT&G kept up an operating margin rate of 35.4 percent over the last 20 years, topping the rare list of 19 Korean companies in the big category that have never tasted red figures in their bottom line from 2000.

According to local business tracking site CEO Score’s study on top 500 listed companies’ quarterly earnings reports, 19 companies have reported quarterly operating profit for 78 consecutive quarters since 2000.

Among the top 10 chaebol group units, Samsung Group’s Hotel Shilla and S-1 Corp., Hyundai Motor Group’s Hyundai Mobis and Hyundai Steel, SK Group’s SK Telecom and SKC, Posco Group’s Posco, and GS Group’s GS Home Shopping joined the list.

Four out of 19 were retail companies topping the list. They were followed by steel, petrochemical and food and beverage companies (3 of each), auto and auto parts-making firms (2), and communications, pharmaceutical, living goods and service companies (1 of each).

None of the names in the IT, electronics, shipbuilding, machinery and facilities industries was included in the list. The country’s tech mogul Samsung Electronics has reported quarterly profit only since 2009 after it last logged loss in the final quarter of 2008.

Tobacco maker KT&G showed the biggest average operating margin of 35.4 percent during the period. Thirteen companies including SK Telecom, Soulbrain, Handsome and Posco kept up operating margin above 10 percent.

By Lim Hyung-joon and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]