Corporate profits, debts improve in 2025: BOK

South Korean companies’ profitability and debts improved last year, driven by strong performance in the semiconductor, transportation and other industries, although their sales growth slowed, central bank data showed Wednesday.

Corporate sales growth slowed to 2.4 percent last year from the previous year’s 3.7 percent, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The data is based on a review of some 983,000 non-financial firms subject to external audits.

By sector, manufacturing businesses saw their sales grow by 2.4 percent in 2025, slowing from a 4.6 percent gain the previous year.

Sales in the non-manufacturing sector advanced 2.3 percent last year, also slowing from a 2.9 percent advance the previous year.

The ratio of local firms’ combined operating profits to sales stood at 5.2 percent last year, improving from the previous year’s 4.6 percent and the highest number since 2021.

The firms’ average debt-to-equity ratio stood at 116.2 percent last year, down from 119.9 percent the previous year and the lowest since 2019, the latest findings showed.

The data also showed that the proportion of firms with an interest coverage ratio of less than 100 percent stood at 42.9 percent in last year, up from 42.8 percent a year earlier.

The figure marked the highest level since the BOK began compiling relevant data in 2013.

The interest coverage ratio is calculated by dividing operating profit by interest expenses.

The overall interest coverage ratio for all companies, meanwhile, climbed to 292.7 percent in 2025, up from 244.1 percent in 2024, according to the data.