South Korea’s listed companies saw their earnings shrink nearly 10 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, as major exporters suffered a setback from the Japanese yen’s prolonged weakness amid the economic slowdown, the bourse operator said Sunday.

The combined net profit of 625 firms listed on the main bourse came to 14.4 trillion won ($12.7 billion) on a consolidated basis in the January-March period, down 9.71 percent from 16.1 trillion won the previous year, according to the data by the Korea Exchange.

Consolidated financial statements bring together all assets, liabilities and operating accounts of a parent company and its subsidiaries. The firms close their books on Dec. 31.

The firms’ combined sales edged up 1.35 percent to reach 286.4 trillion won over the cited period, while their operating profit increased 4.56 percent to 15.4 trillion won.

The on-year decline in net profits came as the depreciation of the Japanese currency weighed down local exporters, the KRX said.

Steelmakers, chemical, retail and auto companies were the biggest victims of a weaker yen, with their first-quarter earnings halved from the previous year, it said.

But the ratio of operating income to sales, a key gauge of corporate profitability, improved in the first quarter to stand at 5.41 percent as of end-March, compared with 5.10 percent a year ago.

The firms’ combined assets totaled 2,080 trillion won as of the end of March, up 3.06 percent from three months earlier. Their debts also grew by 48.3 trillion won, or 4.09 percent, to 1,229 trillion won in the first quarter compared with the end of last year, the KRX said.

Meanwhile, 901 firms listed on the country’s tech-heavy KOSDAQ market saw their consolidated net profit dip 22.92 percent on-year to 1.11 trillion won in the first quarter, the data added.

Their combined sales edged up 1.67 percent on-year to 25.3 trillion won, while their operating profit sank 26.13 percent on-year to 1.09 trillion won, according to the data. (Yonhap News)