Cash assets held by South Korea's top 30 conglomerates grew sharply to 157.7 trillion won (US$147.5 billion) in 2013 as businesses withheld investment in the face of mounting uncertainties, a report by an online corporate research firm showed Sunday. According to CEO Score, cash held by the 171 listed companies belonging to the largest conglomerates, excluding financial firms, were up 18.3 percent from 133.3 trillion won tallied a year earlier.