Profitability improvements among rated Korean corporates are concentrated within two chipmakers, overshadowing gains in other sectors, S&P Global Ratings said in a recent release.
Notable macroeconomic dynamics will further increase the gap in operating performance among corporates, with the semiconductor industry dominating overall profit expansion, S&P said.
Semiconductors and defense should further outdo other sectors over the next one to two years amid strong product demand growth, the rating agency said.
Meanwhile, utilities, petrochemicals, and electric vehicle batteries are exposed to oil price movements, inflationary pressure, weakness in the won, and US policy shifts, S&P said.
S&P's rating actions on Korean corporates were on a downward bias in the first half of the year, with conditions diverging for sectors and continuing to be slightly negative, credit analyst Jeremy Kim said.