South Korea's national pension fund has suffered heavy losses from a recent plunge in shares of Lotte Group affiliates that was sparked by an ugly succession battle at the country's fifth-largest conglomerate, data showed Friday.
  

The National Pension Service racked up 77 billion won ($66.2 million) in valuation losses from its investment in Lotte affiliates between July 27 and Thursday, according to the data compiled by market tracker FnGuide.
  

Currently, the NPS holds more than 5 percent of shares in Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co., Lotte Himart Co. and Lotte Chemical Co. and Lotte Food.
  

The pension operator suffered a loss of 32.9 billion won from its exposure to Lotte Chemical over the cited period, followed by 26.37 billion won from Lotte Chilsung Beverage, 10 billion won from Lotte Himart and 7.76 billion won from Lotte Food, the data showed.
  

In the second quarter, the NPS increased its stakes in Lotte, expanding ownership by at most 2.26 percentage points for each of the four affiliates, with expectations that the firms would show steady growth down the road.
  

However, the eruption of the family power struggle sent the combined market value of eight Lotte affiliates down by 4.1 percent to 23.46 trillion won over the cited period.
  

Shin Dong-bin, the second son of the 93-year-old founder, Shin Kyuk-ho, has been engaged in a bitter battle with his father and elder brother for control of Lotte, whose business ranges from amusement parks and hotels to department stores in South Korea and Japan.
  

With no immediate end to the family feud in sight, market watchers expected shares of Lotte affiliates to be on a roller-coaster ride for the time being. (Yonhap)