SEOUL, Oct. 2 (Yonhap) -- The outlook for listed companies' 2012 earnings is rapidly taking a turn for the worse as the global financial crisis is feared to dent their performances, a report showed Sunday.

At the end of last month, local securities companies put the combined operating profit of 65 major listed companies at 97.5 trillion won (US$82.7 billion) for next year, down 6.9 percent from the 104.7 trillion won forecast made two months earlier, according to FnGuide, a financial information provider.

The surveyed companies cover businesses for which more than three brokerage houses have offered earnings forecasts for the coming year.

Their forecast for this year's operating profit has also been downgraded to 81.7 trillion won from the earlier 88.4 trillion won, FnGuide said.

Market watchers said the cut in the brokerages' earning outlook could have a negative impact on the companies' share prices, which are undervalued compared to their business performances.

The downgrade of the 2012 earnings outlook comes amid the global financial turmoil and jitters over sputtering advanced economies, which are feared to hurt the companies' exports and earnings down the road.