The heightened uncertainty surrounding the world economy has major corporations like the SK Group curb their expectation for next year. / Korea Times file |
Korea Inc. braces for dismal 2012
By Kim Tae-gyu
Back in July, the 2012 outlook for the country’s 132 listed companies’ was to net 109.36 trillion won ($93.89 billion), according to local financial data provider FnGuide.
But the Seoul-based outfit has cut its expectations by up to 9.74 percent to 98.7 trillion won due to the lingering global economic woes originating from debt-ridden governments in Europe.
Market observers echoed that predictions may lower again.
``Ever since the sovereign debt crisis initiated in Europe in August, the problems have shown few signs of being addressed as the credit ratings of some European countries are downgraded,’’ a Seoul analyst said.
``Such events might negatively affect the real economy of Korea due to less shipments to Europe, one of our major export destinations, and frozen investment sentiments here.’’
Last month, the credit ratings of Italy and Spain were downgraded while Portugal and Belgium have now followed suit. France is also feared to experience a similar fate, which would pose a great threat to the world in consideration of the economic size of the country.
Telecom and utility firms hit worst
Korea’s telecom corporations and utility companies are bracing for the hardest hits from the ongoing economic downturn, with many watchers saying the worst awaits.
The country’s telecom businesses were originally predicted to chalk up 6.59 trillion won in operating profits next year as of July but the figure has plummeted by 22.35 percent to 5.12 trillion won.
Taking the sharpest drop is SK Telecom, the top mobile operator, as the downfall for its forecast amounted to 32.13 percent over the past four months from 3.63 trillion won to 2.47 trillion won.
This would be a bitter pill to swallow for the wireless carrier, which has agreed to purchase a controlling stake in Hynix Semiconductor whose profitability is also likely to nosedive.
The predicted operating income of the world’s runner-up memory chip manufacturer for 2012 almost halved from 2.04 trillion won in July to 1.2 trillion won this month.
The consensus on the 2012 profits of Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) also decreased 31.5 percent from 2.6 trillion won to 1.79 trillion won.
Among the big losers are LG Group subsidiaries such as LG Display and LG Innotek. The forecast for the former dipped 56.8 percent while those for the latter dwindled 54.1 percent.
Its other major units like LG Electronics and LG Chem also saw forecasts of their 2012 profitability slump by 31.15 percent and 13.93 percent respectively.
In contrast, the nation’s business bellwether Samsung Electronics is enjoying an uptick. The technology giant is expected to see 19.89 trillion won in operating profit next year, soaring from 18.12 trillion won previously forecasted this July.
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