3Q Kosdaq Listed Companies Operating Profit Up 20.16% YoY... Clear Growth in IT Sector

Manufacturing and Other Industries Show Some Slowdown in Performance Improvement
677 Companies with Positive Operating Profit on Consolidated Basis... 67.43% of Total

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] Companies listed on the KOSDAQ market continued their growth trend in the third quarter of this year. Among them, the IT sector showed the most distinct improvement in performance.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 17th, the consolidated sales of KOSDAQ-listed corporations in the third quarter of this year increased by 13.18% year-on-year to KRW 54,887.1 billion, and operating profit rose by 20.16% during the same period to KRW 4,457.8 billion. The analysis covered 1,004 companies out of 1,150 December fiscal year-end corporations for which comparison was possible. 104 companies were excluded from the analysis due to reasons such as non-submission of reports, delisting causes, or being foreign companies.

Profitability also improved. The operating profit margin rose by 0.47 percentage points year-on-year to 8.12%. The debt ratio fell by 0.12 percentage points compared to the end of last year, standing at 109.40%.

(Provided by Korea Exchange)

By industry, the IT sector showed the most distinct growth. The third-quarter sales of 363 IT companies increased by 9.47% quarter-on-quarter to KRW 21,723.0 billion, and operating profit rose by 20.50% during the same period to KRW 1,828.0 billion. In particular, the IT H/W and telecommunications & broadcasting services sectors within IT showed significant performance improvements. The cumulative operating profit for the third quarter of IT H/W and telecommunications & broadcasting services increased by 42.70% and 40.43% year-on-year, respectively. The IT S/W & SVC sector’s cumulative operating profit for the third quarter increased by only 10.90% year-on-year.

However, manufacturing and other sectors showed somewhat lower momentum in sales and operating profit growth compared to the second quarter. The third-quarter sales of 451 manufacturing companies decreased by 1.16% quarter-on-quarter to KRW 22,286.9 billion, and operating profit dropped by 19.46% during the same period to KRW 1,129.7 billion. The third-quarter sales of 190 companies in other sectors increased by 3.99% quarter-on-quarter to KRW 10,877.2 billion, and operating profit rose by 14.69% to KRW 1,500.1 billion.

(Provided by Korea Exchange)

Based on operating profit, 677 companies recorded profits, accounting for 67.43% of the total 1,004 companies. This is an increase of 7 companies compared to 670 companies in the first half of this year. Among the loss-making companies, 116 switched to profit in the third quarter. Conversely, 94 companies turned to losses, bringing the total number of loss-making companies to 327.

Based on net profit, 692 companies recorded profits, representing about 68.92% of the total. Among the companies that were previously in the red, 170 switched to profit. Meanwhile, 104 companies shifted from profit to loss, resulting in a total of 312 loss-making companies.

On an individual and separate basis, KOSDAQ-listed companies’ third-quarter sales increased by 9.39% year-on-year to KRW 38,945.9 billion, and operating profit rose by 13.04% during the same period to KRW 3,253.1 billion.

Although the third-quarter performance this year showed a slight decrease in momentum compared to the same period last year, sales increased by 1.13%, operating profit by 0.91%, and net profit by 29.40% compared to the second quarter. The debt ratio stood at 58.52%, down 0.18 percentage points from the end of last year.

(Provided by Korea Exchange)

By industry, the IT sector again showed continuous performance improvement. The third-quarter sales of 433 KOSDAQ IT companies increased by 6.63% quarter-on-quarter to KRW 14,967.3 billion, and operating profit rose by 13.90% during the same period to KRW 1,489.9 billion.

Due to the impact of non-face-to-face and contactless trends caused by COVID-19, the telecommunications & broadcasting services and IT H/W sectors within IT showed clear upward trends in performance. The cumulative operating profit for the third quarter of telecommunications & broadcasting services and IT H/W increased by 65.09% and 48.57% year-on-year, respectively. The IT S/W & SVC sector’s cumulative operating profit for the third quarter decreased by 1.95% during the same period.

The manufacturing sector’s performance improvement slowed somewhat. The third-quarter sales of 586 KOSDAQ manufacturing companies decreased by 3.27% quarter-on-quarter to KRW 16,509.6 billion, and operating profit dropped by 13.52% during the same period to KRW 1,010 billion. Among these, the cumulative operating profit for the machinery & equipment sector in the third quarter decreased by 49.51% year-on-year, showing weakness. However, the publishing & media reproduction and transportation equipment & parts sectors showed clear performance improvements, with cumulative operating profit turning positive and increasing by 263.24% during the same period.

The other sectors showed no significant changes in performance. The third-quarter sales of 238 KOSDAQ companies in other sectors increased by 0.86% quarter-on-quarter to KRW 7,469.0 billion, and operating profit rose by 0.74% to KRW 753.1 billion.

Based on operating profit, 861 companies recorded profits, accounting for 68.50% of the total. The number of loss-making companies was 396. Based on net profit, 862 companies recorded profits, representing 68.58% of the total.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.