SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Shares of Samsung Group, South Korea's biggest family-controlled conglomerate, were affected Friday by the court's ruling that sentenced Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the group's heir apparent, to five years in prison.
Shares of Samsung Electronics, the crown jewel of the group, declined 1.1 percent, and Samsung C&T, the de-facto holding company of the group, retreated 1.4 percent.
However, Samsung Life Insurance, the life insurer unit, advanced 2.5 percent, and the shipbuilding affiliate Samsung Heavy Industries gained 2.8 percent.
Lee, the third-generation head of Samsung, was convicted of all of the five charges levied by prosecutors, including bribery, embezzlement, concealment of criminal proceeds, illegal transfer of assets to overseas and perjury.
The prosecutors demanded a 12-year imprisonment for the Samsung heir earlier this month.
Samsung Electronics posted its biggest quarterly earnings in the April-June quarter though the de-facto Samsung chief was brought into custody in February.
Some worried that the prolonged detention of the Samsung heir would deal a blow to Samsung's future on absence of the leadership which decides on major investments and large-scale M&As.
Others expected the leadership absence to have little effect on the Samsung future as the tech giant is being run by professional executives and the well-organized system.
Meanwhile, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) inched up 2.67 points, or 0.11 percent, to settle at 2,378.51. Trading volume stood at 337.56 million shares worth 4.55 trillion won (4 billion U.S. dollars).
The court ruling on the Samsung heir had a negative effect on the KOSPI moves, but local institutions raised stock holdings on expectations that the ruling's effect would be limited.
South Korea's currency finished at 1,128.2 won against the greenback, down 0.3 won from the previous close.
