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Four major conglomerates saw their combined operating profit plunge 65 per cent last year, hit by sluggish sales amid an economic slowdown, a report showed on Wednesday.

Some 306 affiliates of four conglomerates -- Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor and LG -- posted a combined operating profit of 24.51 trillion won ($17.9 billion) in 2023, down from 71.91 trillion won a year earlier, according to the report by the Korea CXO Institute, a corporate data firm.

Samsung Group, the country's biggest conglomerate, suffered the biggest profit decline last year due to a poor performance by its core affiliate Samsung Electronics, reports Yonhap news agency.

The group's 59 affiliates suffered a whopping 93 per cent drop in operating income at 2.83 trillion won last year from 38.74 trillion won a year ago.

In particular, Samsung Electronics shifted to an operating loss of 11.52 trillion won in 2023 from an operating profit of 25.31 trillion won the previous year on lower chip demand.

SK Group's 135 affiliates reported an operating profit of 3.91 trillion won, down 80 percent from 19.14 trillion won during the same period.

Major affiliate SK hynix shifted to an operating loss of 4.67 trillion won from an operating profit of 7.66 trillion won on sluggish chip sales.

LG Group was not the exception. Its 48 affiliates swung to an operating loss of 270.7 billion won from an operating profit of 1.44 trillion won.

In contrast, Hyundai Motor Group came up with solid results helped by strong demand for its SUVs and high-end Genesis models in global markets.

The automotive group's 50 affiliates reported an operating profit of 18.03 trillion won last year, jumping 43 percent from 12.58 trillion won a year ago.