Investment by S. Korea's top 30 biz groups surges 43 pct this year: report

SEOUL, Nov. 19 (Yonhap) -- Total investment by South Korea's top 30 business groups surged 43 percent on-year to 57.8 trillion won (US$52.5 billion) this year, a report by a corporate research firm showed Sunday.

According to CEO Score, which filed reports on asset investment, money injected into information technology (IT) and electronics led growth coming in the first three quarters of this year. The total excludes funds allocated for various research and development projects undertaken by businesses.

In the January-September period of 2016, total investments were tallied at 40.5 trillion won.

The online corporate productivity evaluation site also said Samsung Group, the country's No. 1 family-run conglomerate or chaebol, accounted for a third of all investments made. The largest chaebol has Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest smartphone and computer chip maker, as an affiliate.

Samsung alone invested just under 20.3 trillion won, followed by SK and LG groups at 10.1 trillion won and 7.7 trillion won, respectively.

The combined total of the three made up two-thirds of all investment at 38.1 trillion won, with Hyundai Motor Group and KT having invested a little under 5.2 trillion won and 2.2 trillion won, respectively, in the first nine months of the year.

S-Oil, steelmaker POSCO, Hanjin, Lotte, CJ, GS and others all invested more than 1 trillion won up till September.

By individual company, Samsung Electronics handily outpaced all rivals with 18.8 trillion won invested, with global chipmaker SK hynix and LG Display taking the remaining top three spots at 2.4 trillion won and 1.85 trillion won, respectively.

yonngong@yna.co.kr
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