Twenty-four companies have newly joined the ranks of those with 10 trillion-won (US$8.84 billion) market capitalization compared with 10 years ago, raising the number of such firms to a record high of 35, according to the Korea Exchange on Tuesday.
Of the group, 34 were on the main bourse, including Samsung Electronics with a market cap of 352.32 trillion won as of Monday. SK hynix had 61.66 trillion won, and Kakao had 10.24 trillion won. Celltrion, with 21.86 trillion won, was the only firm on the secondary tech-heavy bourse KOSDAQ to make the list, although the company is scheduled to move to the main stock market early next year.
There have been ups and downs in the number of firms in the top club over the past 10 years. There were 24 in 2007 and 10 in the wake of the global financial crisis the following year. The number returned to 20 in 2009 and increased to 28 in 2010. It fell back to 21 in 2011 and was back up to 24 in 2012. Last year, 28 were in the club.
Seven on the list were new entrants this year, including Samsung Biologics, which was listed in November last year, and Netmarble Games, listed in May. LG Electronics, S-oil, Hana Financial, Woori Bank and Kakao also became new members.
Some companies have never come off the list, including Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Hyundai Motor and POSCO. Samsung C&T, KB Financial, Shinhan Financial, SK Telecom, LG Electronics, LG and LG Display have also maintained their places on the list.
