[THE INVESTOR] Even as  Hanjin Shipping is grappling with court receivership, data showed on Sept. 6 that one in three affiliate companies of Hanjin Group are zombie companies.

A total of 12 companies, or 31.6 percent of the total number of affiliates of the family-dominated conglomerate, don’t make sufficient profit to pay down the principal on their debt or face capital encroachment, according to data by corporate information provider Chaebol.com. 



The average debt-to-equity ratio of Hanjin Group stood at 449.5 percent over the past three years, much higher than the average of the country’s top 10 conglomerates of 70.5 percent.

The group’s flagship affiliate Korean Air, in particular, is found to be struggling with snowballing debts with its debt-to-equity ratio reached 1,108.7 percent.

According to the data, Korean Air’s debt surged to 21.4 trillion won (US$19.37 billion) as of June from 20.07 trillion won last year.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)