Operating profits of companies listed on South Korea's benchmark KOSPI are expected to reach nearly 200 trillion won ($177.6 billion) for 2017 amid the recent stock rally, a survey showed Sunday.

Local brokerages forecast that KOSPI-listed firms will post a combined 193 trillion won in operating profit for this year, up 29 percent from last year's 160 trillion won, according to the poll by FN Guide, a market research firm.

It beat the earlier projection of 172 trillion won set in the beginning of 2017.

They also predicted that the aggregated net profit will also soar 43.2 percent on-year to 146 trillion won by the end of this year, compared with their earlier outlook of 127 trillion won.

The South Korean stock market has been on a sharp roll over the recent months, jumping more the 20 percent in the first seven months of the year.

The KOSPI staged record-breaking performances for eight straight sessions in July to close at an all-time high of 2,451.53 points on July 24.

Analysts anticipated that South Korean companies will have better balance sheets in 2017 despite a recent fall stemming from a profit-taking stance, which is expected to be short-lived. Over the past two-weeks, the KOSPI lost ground sharply to close at 2,395.45 on Friday, as foreign investors dumped a net 2.36 trillion won worth of local stocks.

"The KOSPI rally is attributable to improved corporate earning thanks to an upturn in global trade," said Yoon Ji-ho, a senior researcher at EBEST Investment & Securities Co. "The favorable business environment shows no change. The KOSPI still has strong fundamentals." (Yonhap)