Global tech titan Samsung Electronics Co. retained the No. 1 spot on the list of South Korea's top 500 companies in 2020, with 44 companies newly making the list, a corporate tracker said Wednesday.

Samsung Electronics, the flagship of South Korea's leading family-controlled conglomerate Samsung Group, remained the biggest company by sales last year, with its top line reaching 236.8 trillion won ($212 billion).

Leading automaker Hyundai Motor Co., the marquee unit of automaking behemoth Hyundai Motor Group, maintained the second spot with sales of about 104 trillion won.

LG Electronics Inc. moved up one notch to rank third with sales of 63.3 trillion won as the company performed well thanks to increased demand for its products amid the coronavirus pandemic.

No. 2 automaker Kia Corp., a unit of Hyundai Motor Group, advanced one ranking to fourth with sales of 59.2 trillion won.

Rounding out the top 10 were state power company Korea Electric Power Corp., Hanwha Corp., top auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis Co., Hana Bank and Samsung Life Insurance Co.

Hana Bank and Samsung Life Insurance newly made the top 10 list on the back of strong performances. Chip giant SK hynix Inc. posted sales of 31.9 trillion won, moving up five spots to rank 12th.

Hit by the pandemic, top steelmaker POSCO slumped to sixth place from third with sales of 57.8 trillion won. Oil refiner GS-Caltex Corp. saw its ranking fall by 16 notches to place 25th.

The newcomers included battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd., which ranked 343rd, and online mall SSG.com that placed 382nd.

The combined sales of the 500 largest firms came to 2,886.8 trillion won last year, down 0.2 percent from a year earlier amid the fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak.

Yet, their combined operating profit climbed 5.4 percent on-year to 172.4 trillion won, with their net income swelling 11.7 percent to 111.2 trillion won.

CEO Score compiled the list of the country's top 500 companies among 30,800 local corporations that unveiled their 2020 financial statements. (Yonhap)