Units of South Korea's top 10 family-controlled conglomerates contributed nearly 60 percent to the first-half operating income of all listed companies, data showed Monday, pointing to their huge presence here.

The combined operating income of 91 listed companies belonging to the leading business groups soared 72.1 percent on-year to 39.3 trillion won ($34.7 billion) in the January-June period, with the number for the remaining 1,813 firms rising a mere 1.3 percent to 26.8 trillion won.

The top 10 group companies accounted for 59.5 percent of their total operating income, up 13.2 percentage points from a year earlier.
 

The combined operating income of all the listed firms rose 34.1 percent on-year to 66.2 trillion won in the first half, with their sales climbing 7.2 percent to 764.4 trillion won.

In particular, 55 listed firms affiliated with the nation's top four conglomerates -- Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG -- saw their combined operating income spike 84.6 percent on-year to 33.5 trillion won in the first half, accounting for 50.6 percent of the total.

Operating income of Samsung, SK and LG more than doubled during the period, with the figure for Samsung's 16 listed subsidiaries skyrocketing 127 percent to 16.4 trillion won.

In contrast, Hyundai Motor Group, whose flagships are South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and No. 2 player Kia Motors Corp., suffered an 18.6 percent on-year tumble in first-half operating income to 4.7 trillion won, according to the data. (Yonhap)