Listed firms' asset sales near 2 tln won this year

SEOUL, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) -- Listed companies in South Korea have seen their sales of land, buildings and other tangible assets reach nearly 2 trillion won (US$1.9 billion) so far this year, data showed Sunday, as they are keen to make their balance sheets cleaner.

According to the data by the financial watchdog, companies listed on the nation's main and secondary stock markets disposed of tangible assets worth 1.84 trillion won this year, excluding last week's sale of a prime land lot in southern Seoul by state-run power company Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO).

Fourteen companies listed on the main bourse sold tangible assets worth 1.47 trillion won this year, taking up the bulk of the total.

The largest seller of tangible assets was Lotte Shopping, the flagship of retail conglomerate Lotte, which sold 617 billion won worth of buildings and land lots.

Most of the companies disclosed that their asset sales are designed to improve finances, according to the data.

On Thursday, Hyundai Motor Group, the world's fifth-largest automaker, was chosen as the winning bidder for KEPCO's land by offering 10.55 trillion won, more than triple the appraisal value.

Hyundai Motor beat global tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. to buy the 79,345-square-meter site to build its new global business center in the affluent Gangnam district.
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