Major South Korean companies are widely expected to report weaker-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter of last year, which could further exacerbate the local stock market's bearish run amid concerns over a stronger local currency, analysts said Wednesday. Samsung Electronics Co., the biggest market cap on the local bourse, kicked off the quarterly earnings season on Monday with the announcement of an underwhelming fourth-quarter performance, raising expectations that other local firms may provide similar figures for the October-December period