Growth rate of corporate revenues slows in 2H

Reflecting the nation¡¯s deteriorating economic conditions, a recent survey found that the growth rate of corporate revenues slowed in the third quarter of this year.

The Korea Stock Exchange and the Council of Listed Companies said Wednesday that they conducted the survey on 446 out of 574 listed companies that settle their accounts in December and discovered that their revenues posted 120 trillion won in the third quarter (July through September). Officials said that the figure marks only a 2.08 percent increase from the 118 trillion won reported in the second quarter, far below the 5.20 percent rise in revenues in the second quarter from the first quarter.

The survey also showed that the companies recorded 5.2 trillion won in net profits during the three months, 41.1 percent higher than the 3.7 trillion won registered in the previous quarter. As a result, their accumulated net profits for this year came to 16.1 trillion won as of last September, hitting an all-time high. The amount has already exceeded the net profits of 12.4 trillion won reported for all last year.

However, the surveyors attributed the increase to the strong performance of only a few large companies such as Samsung Electronics and said that the business conditions of listed firms has not improved much across the board.

Companies listed on the over-the-counter Kosdaq proved to be more vulnerable to the economic slump as their growth slowed sharply in the third quarter.

According to the Kosdaq market, the combined turnovers and net profits of 335 listed companies that settle their accounts in December declined 10 percent and 53 percent to record 6.3 trillion won and 135.2 billion won, respectively, in the third quarter. It was discovered that their operating profit rates against turnovers dropped from 8.0 percent in the second quarter to 6.0 percent in the third, indicating that their profitability also deteriorated. But their accumulated net profits in the first nine months increased 20 percent from 758.9 billion won last year.

Securities analysts said that the slowed growth rate of turnovers means that the ailing economy is beginning to directly affect companies. Given that business is usually slow in the winter season, corporate profitability will further deteriorate in the fourth quarter, they predicted.