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The Korea Herald
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THE INVESTOR
March 29, 2024

Economy

Corporate revenue, profit down in Q1

  • PUBLISHED :June 18, 2019 - 13:30
  • UPDATED :June 18, 2019 - 13:30
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South Korean companies suffered heavy losses in the first quarter, central bank data showed on June 18, apparently due to a sharp drop in exports and tepid local consumption.

In the first three months of the year, the average sales of local businesses declined 2.4 percent from the same period last year, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. The figure follows a 6 percent on-year growth in their sales during the fourth quarter of last year.


The country’s exports dipped 3.2 percent on-quarter in the January-March period, according to earlier data. Outbound shipments are said to account for about half of the country’s overall gross domestic product.  

Korea’s exports have dropped for six consecutive months since December, and are widely expected to continue dwindling at least over the next few months due to the escalating trade tension between the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies that are also the  two largest importers of Korean goods.

The gloomy data bode ill for exporters going forward, with their bottom lines likely to be further hurt.

The quarterly report was based on a survey of 3,333 select local companies out of the total 17,200 that are subject to an external audit. Those surveyed included 2,029 manufacturing companies.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)

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