Nearly 80 percent of major companies in South Korea will not likely expand their businesses aggressively next year, a poll showed Sunday, indicating lingering anxiety in the corporate sector over future market conditions.

In the poll by the Federation of Korean Industries conducted on 248 companies, 41.3 percent of them said they will “shrink” their business plans next year.

In addition, 37.2 percent of those surveyed said they will “keep the status quo” next year, showing that a combined 78.5 percent might take a conservative approach for the time being in carrying out their business plans.

Only 21.5 percent said they will expand their business next year, the poll showed.

The results seem to be based on their conservative economic outlook in which they expect the economy to grow 3.2 percent next year. It is relatively lower than the projections of major think tanks, which stay in the upper range of 3 percent.

The poll also showed that 32.5 percent of heads of major business groups cited the slumping domestic demand as a cause for concern. Deteriorating export market conditions followed with 29.3 percent.

On the corporate spending front, 43.7 percent said they plan to invest next year at a similar level as in 2013. Nearly half of those surveyed said their employment plans will also remain almost unchanged from this year. (Yonhap News)