LG Group's Status Fares Well In Recent Round of Spin-offs, Affiliate Sales and Performance

In Korea, top ranking among the nation's leading conglomerates is cherished.

The market capitalization ranking of Korea's conglomerates has seen a quiet revolution in recent years due to the sale and spin-off of affiliates and varying business performance.

Last week, Samsung's market capitalization continued growth cemented its position as Korea's first business group.
Samsung's market value amounts to 20% of the entire stock market and is larger than the combined market capitalization of LG, SK and Hyundai Motor.

What I find interesting is that despite spinning off LS Cable and the GS Group last year, the LG Group's market value jumped two notches from fourth place to second. This adds credibility to LG top management who hoped the spin-offs would allow LG tp concentrate on core business sectors.

Meanwhile, SK Group was the only conglomerate among top 10 business groups whose market value shrank because of an accounting scandal and stalled growth of its core affiliate SK Telecom.

Market capitalization is but one of the methods Korean rank top firms. Other rankings, show Hyundai Automotive as second place.