Earnings by South Korea’s listed companies increased in the first quarter of the year, but some heavyweights racked up a bigger portion, strengthening their presence in the corporate earnings arena, data showed Monday.

The combined net profit of 502 firms listed on the main bourse came to 19.16 trillion won ($18.7 billion) on a consolidated basis in the January-March period, up 4.57 percent from a year earlier, while their operating income fell 1.48 percent on-year to 25.79 trillion won, the data compiled by the Korea Exchange showed.

Consolidated financial statements reflect all assets, liabilities and operating accounts of a parent company and its subsidiaries. The firms close their books on Dec. 31.

The data showed the top 10 listed firms in terms of profit accounted for 65.4 percent of the total operating income during the January-March period, compared with 60.7 percent a year earlier.

In terms of net profit, the top 10 companies made up for 67.6 percent of the total in the first quarter, up from 62.4 percent a year earlier, according to the data. (Yonhap)