South Korea’s listed firms saw their debt ratios plunge last year from 15 years earlier, data showed Wednesday, indicating their significantly improved financial health since the Asian financial crisis.

According to the data compiled by the Korea CXO Institute, a private research organization, local listed firms saw their average debt ratio reach 145 percent in 2012 on average, falling significantly from 451.2 percent tallied in 1997.

Debt ratio refers to the portion of debts in comparison to a firms’ assets, with higher figure indicating weaker financial condition.

The number of high-risk listed firms, or companies with debt ratios hovering above 400 percent, also decreased to 93 firms, compared to 417 enterprises tallied in 1997.

“The improvement came as South Korea’s financial condition recovered at a rapid pace after the economic crisis (in 1997),” said Oh Il-sun, a researcher at the institution.

The institution added that South Korea should continue to take a closer look at its market, as around 10 listed firms are currently facing a possible liquidity crisis. (Yonhap News)