The sales of stocks and bonds by South Korean companies fell 5.2 percent in July from a month earlier as they scaled back on selling debt, the financial watchdog said Monday.

Local businesses raised a combined 14.16 trillion won ($11.9 billion) last month by selling stocks and bonds, compared with 14.95 trillion won a month ago, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.

For the first seven months of the year, corporate direct financing gained 15 percent on-year to 79.9 trillion won from the previous year's 69.4 trillion won, the FSS added.

Corporate debt issuance dropped 10.2 percent on-month to 12.9 trillion won from 14.4 trillion won.

Manufacturers and financial firms with high credit ratings refrained from selling debt amid increased credit risks stemming from local shipbuilders, including Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co.

The country's big three shipyards reported a record loss during the second quarter of the year, cooling down investors' appetites for overall corporate debt.

Stock offerings, however, shot up 125.4 percent on-month to 1.2 trillion won in July on the back of massive initial stock offerings.

Mirae Asset Life Insurance Co., the country's sixth-largest life insurer, went public on the main bourse to raise 300 billion won. Innocean World Wide Inc., an advertisement agency affiliated with Hyundai Motor Group, and cosmetics maker Tonymoly Co. also made their market debuts last month. (Yonhap)