S. Korea's Corporate Revenue Declines In 2023

SEOUL, June 12 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- South Korea's corporate revenue declined last year due to reduced global demand for locally-made products, Xinhua reported Wednesday, citing central bank data.

Revenue for 12,779 manufacturers and 19,253 non-manufacturers subject to external audit, excluding financial firms, fell 2.0 per cent in 2023 from a year earlier after advancing 16.9 per cent in the previous year, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Sales by manufacturers slumped 2.7 per cent on the back of weaker semiconductor demand and lower oil products price while revenue for non-manufacturers declined 1.2 per cent last year.

Corporate profitability worsened. The ratio of operating profit to revenue retreated to 3.8 per cent in 2023 from 5.3 per cent in the previous year.

The ratio for manufacturers went down from 6.3 per cent to 3.2 per cent in the cited period, but the reading for non-manufacturers gained from 4.1 per cent to 4.4 per cent.

The interest coverage ratio, which measures a company's ability to pay interest expenses with operating profit, came to 219.5 per cent in 2023, halving from 443.7 per cent in the prior year.

It has marked the lowest since relevant data began to be compiled in 2013.

The debt-to-equity ratio for the local companies stood at 102.6 per cent last year, down 2.4 percentage points from the previous year. 

-- BERNAMA-XINHUA