KOSPI Listed Companies' Operating Profit Halved in First Half of the Year... Only Banks and Securities Profited

Operating profit (consolidated basis) of KOSPI-listed companies in the first half of this year was found to be less than half of that in the same period last year.

On the 17th, the Korea Exchange announced in a press release titled "2023 First Half Financial Results of December Fiscal Year-End Companies Listed on the KOSPI Market" that the operating profit of KOSPI-listed companies in the first half (704 companies on an individual basis, 615 companies on a consolidated basis) recorded 53.1083 trillion KRW. This is a 52.45% decrease compared to the operating profit of 111.6807 trillion KRW in the same period last year. Net profit also fell by 57.94% to 37.6886 trillion KRW. Sales increased by 2.28% to 1,390.5477 trillion KRW.

The sharp decline in operating profit was largely due to the poor performance of Samsung Electronics amid the semiconductor industry downturn. Samsung Electronics accounts for 8.90% of consolidated sales. However, even excluding Samsung Electronics, operating profit and net profit decreased by 37.94% and 48.81%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

Although the overall performance in the first half was poor, quarterly data shows a gradual recovery in the second quarter compared to the first quarter. Operating profit (consolidated basis) in the second quarter increased by 12.11% compared to the previous quarter. On an individual basis, it increased by 43.61%.

Among a total of 17 industries, 12 industries saw a decrease in operating profit, and 13 industries saw a decrease in net profit. While most industries experienced poor performance, the financial sector (based on 42 companies excluding 5 companies that submitted individual financial statements out of a total of 47 companies) saw operating profit and net profit increase by around 5%. In particular, banks recorded a 15.72% increase in operating profit and a 19.13% increase in net profit compared to the previous quarter. Securities also saw operating profit increase by 8.06% and net profit by 15.06%. This is attributed to factors such as increased interest margins due to high interest rates.

KOSDAQ-listed companies also recorded an operating profit of 4.184 trillion KRW (individual basis) in the first half, down 41.8% from 7.183 trillion KRW in the same period last year. Sales increased by 1.2% to 91.5 trillion KRW. As a result, the operating profit margin stood at 4.6%, down 3.4 percentage points from the same period last year.

Profitability declined across industries, with the IT hardware sector, centered on semiconductor and IT component manufacturing, experiencing nearly a 70% decrease in operating profit, leading to poor performance.

Among the total 1,403 KOSDAQ-listed companies, about 40%, or 552 companies, recorded losses in the first half.

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