More Companies Enter “Trillion Won Club”

Thanks to the stock market boom, it has been reported that the number of listed companies with a market capitalization of more than one trillion won has surged in recent months.

According to the Korea Exchange on Sunday, a total of 133 KOSPI-listed companies (excluding REITs, ship investment corporations, and infrastructure investment management companies) recorded market capitalization totals of one trillion won or more in common stock as of last Friday.

This is a 25.47 percent jump from the 106 recorded at the end of last year. In other words, among the 678 companies listed on KOSPI, 19.61 percent have now joined the “One Trillion Won Club,” a nickname used to refer to companies with a market capitalization of one trillion won or more.

Up until the end of last year, Samsung Electronics was the only company with a market capitalization of more than 50 trillion won. However, POSCO recently joined ranks with Samsung thanks to its share price surging rapidly. Four companies have reached a market capitalization between 20 and 50 trillion won now: Hyundai Heavy Industries, Korea Electric Power Corporation, Kookmin Bank, and Shinhan Financial Group. SK telecom, Woori Finance Holdings and 15 other companies made it into the 10-20 trillion won bracket, almost double the number from last year (9).

The number of listed companies with market capitalization between five and 10 trillion won, and the number between two and five trillion won, came in at 29 and 43, respectively, about 10 more for each bracket from the year before. The number of companies with market capitalization between one and two trillion won slightly declined from last year’s 42 to 38.

sukim@donga.com