Korean listed firms saw their first-half earnings shed nearly 24 percent on-year in the midst of mounting global economic uncertainties, the bourse operator said Thursday.
The combined net profit of 163 firms listed on the main bourse that close their books on Dec. 31 reached 31.78 trillion won ($28 billion) in the January-June period, down 23.8 percent from a profit of 41.75 trillion won a year earlier, the Korea Exchange (KRX) said.
Their combined sales edged up 9.91 percent on-year to 789 trillion won over the cited period, while their operating income sank 12.5 percent to 45.31 trillion won.
"The decreased net profit is attributed to deteriorating profitability of the listed firms' subsidiaries, as small and medium enterprises are much more vulnerable to the economic slowdown," said an official from the KRX.
The tally was based on the Korean International Financial Reporting Standards that require listed companies to include affiliates' results in their earnings reports. Listed firms whose market capitalization exceeds 2 trillion won are subject to this accounting rule.
Meanwhile, the average debt ratio of the companies stood at 135.05 percent at the end of June, down 0.28 percentage points from a year ago, the data showed.
"Amid the protracted economic slowdown, local companies were reluctantly making aggressive investments via increasing debts, which drove the ratio down," the official said.
The combined profit of 28 other firms, which close their books on March 31, reached 1.11 trillion won in the April-June period, down 31.6 percent from a year earlier, the KRX said.
Local brokerage houses led the plunge, with their net profit crashing 96.7 percent on-year, as Europe's debt crisis and the global economic slowdown bite into their profitability and their trading activities, the bourse operator said. (Yonhap)