Major listed firms' Q2 profits tipped to dip 46 pct
Industry 09:03 May 23, 2019
en.yna.co.kr
SEOUL, May 23 (Yonhap) -- Listed affiliates of South Korea's top 10 business groups are likely to see their combined earnings tumble nearly 46 percent in the second quarter following a dismal first-quarter performance, a market tracker said Thursday.
The market consensus of the 52 firms' combined operating income is estimated to reach 16.7 trillion won for the April-June period on a consolidated basis, down 45.6 percent from a year earlier, according to Yonhap Infomax, the financial news and information arm of Yonhap News Agency.
The firms cover corporations for which three or more brokerage houses have put out earnings estimates.
The grim outlook comes after their combined operating profit plunged 44.5 percent on-year in the first quarter due mainly to falling chip prices.
SK Group's listed affiliates are forecast to suffer the biggest nosedive in their total operating profit for the second quarter, falling 71.6 percent to 1.95 trillion won, hit by a plunge in earnings by major chipmaker SK hynix Inc.
The listed affiliates of Samsung Group, the top conglomerate, are projected to see their combined operating profit also plunge 55.6 percent on-year to 7.1 trillion won, also led by chip behemoth and Samsung Electronics Co.
The abysmal forecasts for SK and Samsung groups come as their flagships SK hynix and Samsung Electronics are sputtering due to the sluggish global chip business.
The second-quarter operating income of SK hynix is predicted to plunge 83.9 percent on-year to 893 billion won, the biggest drop among the 52 firms.
The listed firms of Lotte Group are projected to see their combined second-quarter operating profits drop 33.4 percent on-year to 538.8 billion won, with those of LG Group units likely to fall 11.8 percent to 2.1 trillion won.
Hyundai Motor Group, in contrast, is forecast to see the combined operating income of its listed affiliates gain 5.8 percent on-year to 2.8 trillion won, led by Kia Motors Corp.
Samsung Electronics is feared to chalk up the second-largest decrease of 59.7 percent in its operating profit to 5.99 trillion won.
"Chip-division earnings of SK hynix and Samsung Electronics are expected to hit the bottom in the second quarter as memory chip prices have been falling for five months in a row," said Kim Dong-won, a researcher at KB Securities Co. "But the chip industry is expected to make a gradual recovery in the second half." |
