Corporate direct financing in South Korea expanded in November thanks to an increase in rights offering on the stock markets, data showed Wednesday.

Local companies raised a combined 10.22 trillion won ($8.05 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last month, up 16.3 percent from a month earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

Direct financing refers to raising funds directly from the stock and bond markets without borrowing from banks or other financial institutions.

The on-month rise came mostly from an increase in rights offering that amounted to 336.3 billion won, about a fourfold rise from a month earlier.

In particular, Jeju Air, the country's largest budget carrier, raised 217.3 billion won by selling shares on the benchmark Kospi market, the data showed.

The amount of money raised through initial public offerings last month, however, dropped 31.2 percent to 274.1 billion won.

Corporate bond sales jumped 15.8 percent on-month to 9.61 trillion won in November, the data showed. (Yonhap)