Industry data released on Sunday indicates that South Korea's leading companies achieved operating profits exceeding 156 trillion won (approximately $104 billion) in the first quarter of this year, with over 60% of these profits generated by the country's two major semiconductor giants.
According to statistics from corporate data agency CEO Score, the combined operating profits of 328 companies among South Korea's top 500 by revenue reached 156.35 trillion won in Q1, representing a substantial year-on-year increase of 158.6%.
Total revenue for these companies during the same period rose by 29.4% year-on-year to 1,038 trillion won, an increase of 235.3 trillion won compared to the same period last year.
The combined operating profits of the two global semiconductor leaders, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, amounted to a significant 94.8 trillion won.
Individually, Samsung Electronics led with Q1 operating profits of 57.2 trillion won, marking a dramatic surge of 756.1% year-on-year. This figure already surpasses the company's total operating profit of 43.6 trillion won for the entire previous year.
SK Hynix reported operating profits of 37.6 trillion won for the first quarter, achieving a year-on-year growth of 405.5%.