Samsung Electronics stays atop Korea's top 500 firms' list

Global tech behemoth Samsung Electronics remained Korea's largest company by sales in 2022, with 42 businesses newly making the country's top 500 firms' list, a corporate tracker said Wednesday.

Samsung Electronics, the flagship unit of Korea's leading family-controlled conglomerate Samsung Group, retained the No. 1 spot last year with its top line reaching 302.2 trillion won ($228 billion), according to CEO Score.

Leading automaker Hyundai Motor, the marquee unit of automaking titan Hyundai Motor Group, maintained the second place with sales of 142.5 trillion won.

No. 2 carmaker Kia rose to third place from fifth a year earlier with revenue of 86.6 trillion won.

LG Electronics placed fourth, trailed by the state power company Korea Electric Power, Hanwha and major refiner GS Caltex.

Rounding out the top 10 were Meritz Securities; SK Trading International, a subsidiary of Korean refiner SK Innovation; and Hana Bank.

New entrants on the list include battery maker SK On, while the Korea Ocean Business and five other firms were dropped from the list.

Jungheung Construction, which acquired Daewoo Engineering Construction last year, posted the biggest jump in the rankings to 75th place from 326th with sales of 11.1 trillion won.

Among the top 500 corporations, petrochemical firms took up the largest share at 49, followed by automakers and auto parts manufacturers with 44, builders and construction materials firms with 37, and information technology companies with 35.

CEO Score compiled the list of the country's top 500 companies among local corporations that had unveiled their 2022 financial statements. (Yonhap)