[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] The first-quarter earnings of companies listed on the KOSDAQ market showed a significant increase compared to last year overall. Despite the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, interest rate hikes, inflation, and sharp rises in raw material prices causing increased uncertainty in the global financial market, the pharmaceutical sector's progress and the battery and semiconductor sectors drove the earnings. In particular, the operating profit margin relative to sales improved, indicating qualitative enhancement.
According to the "KOSDAQ Market December Fiscal Year 2022 First Quarter Earnings" announced by the Korea Exchange on the 18th, the consolidated sales of KOSDAQ-listed companies in the first quarter amounted to KRW 62.7668 trillion, an increase of 20.89% compared to the same period last year.
Operating profit was KRW 4.2833 trillion, and net profit was KRW 3.3277 trillion, increasing by 26.02% and 2.87%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. The operating profit margin to sales was 6.82%, up 0.28 percentage points from the same period last year, while the net profit margin to sales was 5.30%, down 0.93 percentage points during the same period.
As of the end of the first quarter this year, the debt ratio was 109.39%, slightly up by 2.36 percentage points compared to the same period last year.
By industry, sales, operating profit, and net profit all increased overall. In particular, the IT sector showed a remarkable increase in performance.
The IT sector (377 companies) saw sales and operating profit increase by 20.68% and 39.94%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. Net profit also rose by 9.44% during the same period. Among them, the hardware (H/W) segment showed significant growth with sales, operating profit, and net profit increasing by 22.98%, 81.74%, and 74.26%, respectively.
The manufacturing sector (479 companies) also showed increases in sales, operating profit, and net profit by 18.80%, 28.20%, and 2.15%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. Within manufacturing, medical and precision instruments showed notable growth, with sales, operating profit, and net profit increasing by 36.80%, 79.35%, and 54.72%, respectively.
Other sectors (201 companies) saw sales and operating profit increase by 25.25% and 5.14%, respectively, but net profit slightly decreased by 7.75%.
The financial sector (19 companies on a consolidated basis) showed a declining trend. Operating profit and quarterly net profit decreased by 13.26% and 44.21%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. This is mainly attributed to the reflection of valuation losses on investment assets, especially listed stocks, amid the overall downturn in the international financial market.
The analysis target was 1,050 companies out of 1,165 December fiscal year-end corporations whose earnings could be compared with the same period last year. Among them, 687 companies (65.43%) recorded profits, while 363 companies (34.57%) posted losses.
Among the 687 profitable companies, 582 companies (55.43%) maintained profitability, and the remaining 105 companies (10%) turned profitable. Among the 363 companies with losses, 227 companies (21.62%) continued to post losses, while the remaining 136 companies (12.95%) turned to losses.
The 115 companies not included in this analysis were excluded due to non-submission of quarterly reports or reasons for delisting.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
