[THE INVESTOR] Korean companies enjoyed an increase in sales and better profitability in the second quarter of the year on the back of brisk performances by chipmakers, a central bank report showed on Sept. 13.

The ratio of operating profit to sales of non-financial firms in the country reached 7.7 percent, the highest since 2015, when the Bank of Korea began compiling the data, according to the report. 

The ratio for manufacturing firms stood at 9.5 percent, also reaching an all-time high following the previous record of 8.8 percent logged in the first quarter of this year.

The central bank attributed the growth mainly to strong overseas shipments of semiconductors, as well as decent performances of petrochemicals amid rising global oil prices.

But the ratio of operating profit to sales of non-manufacturing firms inched down to 5 percent in the second quarter of the year from 5.3 percent a year earlier, the BOK noted.

The combined sales also climbed 4.8 percent in the April-June period, compared with a 3.4 percent rise in the previous quarter, according to the data.

Manufacturing companies posted a 4.3 percent on-quarter gain in sales and non-manufacturers’ sales expanded 5.5 percent.

With increased operating profit, the companies’ financial health bettered. Their debt-to-equity ratio stood at 85.4 percent in the second quarter, down from 85.4 percent three months earlier, according to the latest findings.

The BOK data was based on a sample survey of 3,333 out of 17,200 companies with 12 billion won (US$11 million) in assets.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)