Combined sales of South Korean companies rose 1.1 percent in 2016 from a year earlier due to a slowdown in the decline in oil prices and a brisk housing market, central bank data showed Tuesday.
The annual figure marked a turnaround from 2015 when the annual sales growth rate for domestic companies contracted 2.4 percent. In 2014, sales of South Korean companies backtracked 0.3 percent.
(Yonhap)
The Bank of Korea said oil prices and housing bolstered combined sales of South Korean companies in 2016.
Conglomerates said their sales dropped 0.3 percent in 2016, compared with a 3.8-percent decrease posted a year earlier.
Small and medium-sized enterprises posted a 7.4 percent increase in sales last year, up from a 4.2-percent expansion in 2015, the BOK said.
The central bank said companies' operating profit margin to sales came to 6.1 percent in 2016, up from 5.2 percent tallied in the previous year. It means that companies earned 61 won whenever they sold a product worth 1,000 won ($0.84).
The companies' financial health slightly improved as their assets grew 4.3 percent on-year in 2016, while their debt to equity ratio fell to 95.1 percent in 2016 from 100.6 percent in the previous year.
The BOK said its survey was conducted on 20,888 companies between March 15 and May 12. (Yonhap)
