Kospi-listed companies posted a sharp improvement in earnings in the first half of this year, driven by strong results at major chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. On a consolidated basis, operating profit surged 254 percent from the same period last year, while net profit jumped 333 percent.
Korea Exchange and the Korea Listed Companies Association released the figures Wednesday in their "First-Half 2026 Earnings Results for December Fiscal-Year Corporations on the Kospi." Combined sales at the 634 companies analyzed on a consolidated basis reached 2,000.13 trillion won ($1.42 trillion) in the first half of this year, up 28.84 percent from a year earlier.
Operating profit for the same period rose 254.15 percent to 388.15 trillion won, while net profit jumped 333.30 percent to 386.67 trillion won. Pre-tax net profit also climbed 355.58 percent to 494.71 trillion won.
Profitability indicators improved markedly as well. The consolidated operating profit margin rose 12.35 percentage points — from 7.06 percent in the first half of last year to 19.41 percent this year. The net profit margin climbed 13.58 percentage points, from 5.75 percent to 19.33 percent.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix played an outsized role in the improvement. Excluding the two companies, consolidated sales still rose 15.01 percent year-on-year to 1,562.86 trillion won, with operating profit up 75.61 percent to 143.28 trillion won and net profit up 119.68 percent to 133.56 trillion won. Growth continued even without the two chipmakers, but the gains were far smaller than the headline figures.
By sector, electronics led the way. The electrical and electronics sector posted an 80.47 percent increase in first-half sales on a consolidated basis, with operating profit surging 674.92 percent and net profit jumping 697.01 percent. General services saw operating profit rise 237.04 percent and net profit climb 361.07 percent, while the chemicals sector posted gains of 203.76 percent and 432.14 percent in operating and net profit, respectively. By contrast, four sectors — including construction and telecommunications — saw sales fall from a year earlier.
Financial health also improved across the board. Total assets at the 634 companies stood at 5,844.9 trillion won as of the end of June, up 15.77 percent from the end of last year. Total liabilities rose 10.71 percent to 2,934.29 trillion won, while equity increased 21.37 percent to 2,910.61 trillion won. As a result, the debt-to-equity ratio fell 9.71 percentage points, from 110.52 percent at the end of last year to 100.81 percent.
The number of profitable companies also grew. Of the 634 companies analyzed on a consolidated basis, 519 — or 81.86 percent — recorded a net profit in the first half, up from 485 companies, or 76.50 percent, in the same period last year. Of those, 439 maintained profitability from the prior year, while 80 swung from a loss to a profit. The number of loss-making companies shrank from 149 to 115.
The earnings recovery continued into the second quarter. Consolidated second-quarter sales reached 1,075.28 trillion won, up 16.27 percent from the first quarter, while operating profit rose 48.56 percent to 231.99 trillion won and net profit climbed 73.70 percent to 245.4 trillion won. The number of profitable companies in the second quarter also rose by 19 from the first quarter, to 520.
Financial companies also turned in solid results, led by securities firms. The 42 financial companies in the analysis posted combined first-half operating profit of 41.2 trillion won, up 36.07 percent year-on-year, with net profit rising 32.82 percent to 31.95 trillion won. Securities firms were the standout performers, with operating profit and net profit surging 163.37 percent and 161.00 percent, respectively. Banks, however, saw operating profit fall 5.18 percent and net profit decline 4.27 percent.
The improvement was equally evident on a standalone financial statement basis. Among the 720 companies analyzed, first-half sales rose 34.47 percent year-on-year to 1,070.53 trillion won, while operating profit jumped 348.85 percent to 275.08 trillion won and net profit surged 330.54 percent to 291.55 trillion won.
Korea Exchange excluded newly established, spun-off and merged companies, firms that received adverse or qualified audit opinions, and financial-sector entities from the analysis. The consolidated figures cover 634 of the 699 December fiscal-year corporations listed on the Kospi, with 65 excluded.
th5@heraldcorp.com
