[THE INVESTOR] South Korean energy firms have been posting solid sales, better than electronics and automakers in terms of the number of companies whose sales exceed 1 trillion won (US$903.75 billion), according to a market tracker on Sept. 6.

The Korea 2000 Corporate Research Institute analyzed 800 local energy firms based on their financial statements for 2015. Results showed that their total sales reached 306 trillion won, 98 percent of what electronics companies made in the same year.

The Korea Electric Power Corp. was No. 1 in sales at 58.54 trillion won, equal to 19.1 percent of the industry‘s entire sum. SK Energy came next with 27.87 trillion won, followed by GS Caltex with 26.87 trillion won and Korea Gas Corp. with 25.48 trillion won.

Purely in terms of the number of companies in the 1 trillion-won sales group, energy companies accounted for 30, far more than 10 for electronics and 19 for autos, data showed. Sales were more evenly spread out among energy firms than in other industries where a select group of companies dominated the industry’s overall performance, the data also indicated.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)