Asia Tech Wire (Jan 23) -- SK Group has overtaken LG Group to become the second-biggest conglomerate in South Korea in terms of market capitalisation thanks to the strong performance of its chip unit.

SK Group's total market cap reached 171 trillion won as of Friday, catching up with LG Group (167 trillion won) and regaining the second position in South Korea, with Samsung Group holding on to the top spot, Korean market tracker Korea CXO Institute said in a report on Tuesday.

Korea CXO Institute pointed out that the slow growth in demand for electric vehicles and weak recovery in demand for home appliances has led to a significant shrinkage in the total market value of a number of LG Group's listed subsidiaries. In this case, LG Group has erased 65 trillion won in market cap from January 27, 2022 to January 19 this year.

In particular, the market cap of LG Energy Solution (LGES), the battery division of LG Group, fell to 89 trillion won from 118 trillion won over the past year, while that of LG Chem, its chemical unit, plunged from 43 trillion won to 28 trillion won within the period.

And chip giant SK hynix Inc saw its market cap grow from 82 trillion won to 102 trillion won thanks to the bright outlook for the semiconductor industry, strongly driving the total market cap of parent SK Group.