Inside trading in 4 big groups

It has come to be known that the inside sales between affiliates of four largest groups- Hyundai, Samsung, LG, and SK, amount to 155 trillion won, near 40% of the four groups` total sales. When each group is considered as a company and combined financial statements are made, the group`s sales amount is reduced by an amount over the sales of affiliates.

Especially, Hyundai Group is in a situation in which it is difficult for it to pay the interest with the profits earned through sales. And, some of the leading groups, such as Ssangyong, Hansol, Doosan, Saehan, Halla, etc, recorded minus fiscal profit ratios for their respective groups. And, although they made profits from sales, they are not sufficient to pay for the interests.

On August 1, the Financial Supervisory Service stated that such results came out after analyzing the combined financial statements as of the end of last year for 16 groups.

The announced document pointed out that there were too much inside trading between the affiliates of the four largest groups, with an average of 39.2% portion of the total sales.

The ratios of inside trading by group are 41.7% for Samsung, being the highest, 38.1% for Hyundai, 38% for LG, and 36.1% for SK. There were a lot of transactions between affiliates- in this order. Below the four largest groups were Hansol and Saehan, with inside trading ratios of 25.2% and 23.8% respectively.