[THE INVESTOR] Despite declining sales, the profitability of South Korean firms improved in the second quarter compared to a year earlier, central bank data showed on Sept. 22.

Combined sales in local firms with assets worth over 12 billion won (US$10 million) decreased 1.9 percent in the April-June period from a year earlier, showed a Bank of Korea survey conducted on 3,062 companies between Aug. 1 and Sept. 9.

Sales of conglomerates dropped though the rate of decline slowed to a 2.3 percent on-year drop in the second quarter from a 5.7-percent decrease in the year-ago period.

Small and medium enterprises saw a 0.2 percent contraction in sales, compared with 2-percent expansion in the same period last year, the BOK said.

Exports posted the first on-year rise in 20 months in August on the back of brisk overseas demand for memory chips and flat panel displays. Outbound shipments came to US$40.1 billion last month, up 2.6 percent from a year earlier, it added.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)