SEOUL, SK Group has reclaimed its position as the second-largest conglomerate in South Korea by market capitalization, with its chipmaking unit, SK hynix Inc., playing a crucial role, industry data showed Tuesday.

The combined market capitalization of SK Group’s listed subsidiaries had come to 171 trillion won (US$127.7 billion) as of Friday, surpassing LG Group, which posted a market cap of 167 trillion won, according to the data by local corporate tracker Korea CXO Institute.

SK Group had previously held the second spot in market cap until January 2022, when LG Energy Solution, a battery manufacturing unit under LG Group, entered the Korea Composite Stock Price Index, causing SK Group to temporarily drop to the third position.

The gap in market capitalization between the two conglomerates had widened over the past two years due to varied performances in the battery and semiconductor markets.

In recent months, however, SK Group’s total value made a rebound and outnumbered that of LG Group on the back of
the recovery in the chip industry and a slowdown in demand for electric vehicles.

In particular, the market cap of LG Energy Solution plunged to 89 trillion won from 118 trillion won over the past year, and that of LG Chem slid to 28 trillion won from 43 trillion won during the period.

On the other hand, SK hynix saw its market value increase to 102 trillion won from 82 trillion won.

Source: Yonhap News Agency