Exporting companies and those with strong cash positions outperformed others because they were able to exploit the weak Korean won and high interest rates early in the year.

But the future looks bleak even for the fortunate ones with exchange rate advantages dissipating and Asian economies staggering, analysts said. "We are seeing a big contrast in the first-half earnings between companies with large export exposure and domestic oriented firms," said Park Byong-moon, head of research at LG Securities.

South Korea's currency was battered by last year's foreign exchange crisis which pushed the country to the brink of national default before the government accepted a $58.35 billion bailout arranged by the International Monetary Fund.

The won closed last year at 1,695 against the dollar, a 50-percent decline from its value the previous year. It stood at 1,325 at the close of trade on Friday.

Financial turmoil in South Korea has sent unemployment and bankruptcies soaring to record levels with the economy expected to shrink five per cent this year.

"The second-half will be worse because the domestic situation is getting progressively worse," said Stephen Marvin, head of research at Jardine Fleming Securities in Seoul. "Economies in Japan and China are seen weaker in the second-half than the first-half," he said. About half of South Korea's exports go to Asia as a whole.

Analysts said automobile and semiconductor manufacturers took a hit except for Samsung Electronics.

Hyundai Motor, a unit of the giant Hyundai Group and the country's largest carmaker, saw its net swinging to a 1.21 billion won ($913,200) loss in the first six months from a profit of 28.2 billion a year ago.

The company attributed the loss to plunging domestic sales in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

SamsungElectronics, on the other hand, said it posted a sharp growth in half-year profit, largely due to brisk exports that outpaced a drop in domestic sales.

Samsung, the world's largest dynamic random access memory (DRAM) supplier, which also makes consumer electronics goods, said net profit for the six months to June rose to 150.1 billion won from a 123.2 billion won profit a year ago.

But Samsung competitors LG Semicon and Hyundai Electronics Industries Co suffered due to weak global chip prices and large non-operating expenses generated by the won's weakness and high local interest rates.

LG Semicon recorded a 249.1 billion won net loss for the January-June period from a 16 billion won profit in the same period last year. Hyundai Electronics posted a net 334.1 billion won loss from a 14.8 billion gain.

The performance of the shipbuilding industry impressed the market thanks to the won's depreciation and firm shipbuilding demand, analysts said.

Daewoo Heavy Industries posted a 102.1 billion won netprofit in the first- half, up sharply from 37.7 billion a year before.

"Shipbuilders fared the best, benefiting the most from the won situation," said Park at LG.

Among the better-performing blue chip companies were steel giant Pohang Iron and Steel Co (POSCO) and the country's electricity monopoly, Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO).

POSCO posted a first-half net profit of 687.2 billion won, compared to a 543.2 billion won profit a year earlier thanks to efforts to streamline its domestic sales network and diversify export markets.

KEPCO said its net profit jumped to 474.7 billion won in the six-month period, against 110.5 billion won in profits last year because the government raised electricity charges by 5.9 per cent in July 1997 and by another 6.5 per cent in January 1998.