In the first quarter of this year, the growth potential of corporations in Korea has shown signs of slowing. This is attributed to factors such as a decrease in the growth rate of semiconductor exports. However, as large corporations increased their proportion of high-value-added semiconductor products, revenue improved, and stability also slightly improved compared to the previous quarter.
According to the '2025 first quarter corporate management analysis' released by the Bank of Korea on the 23rd, the total revenue of 3,940 surveyed corporations out of 23,137 target corporations for external audits in the first quarter of this year increased by 2.4% compared to a year ago. Compared to the previous fourth quarter (3.5%), the growth rate has slowed down. The average value since 2015 is 3.7%.
The sales growth rate in the manufacturing sector fell from 3.8% to 2.8%. The slowdown in export growth centered around memory semiconductors, coupled with a base effect from a significant increase in the revenue growth rate of machinery and electronics in the first quarter of last year (13.8%), also affected this downturn. The decrease in exports of primary metals due to aggressive competition from low-priced Chinese products also had an impact.
The sales growth rate in the non-manufacturing sector decreased from 3.1% to 1.9%. The slowdown in revenue growth in the transportation sector (13.5% to 5.6%), along with the sluggish performance in the construction sector due to a decrease in domestic dwelling construction, contributed to this decline. By corporation size, both large corporations (3.3% to 2.6%) and small and medium-sized enterprises (4.8% to 1.4%) saw a drop in growth rates.
On the other hand, the profitability of corporations has improved. The operating profit margin of external audit corporations in the first quarter reached 6.0%, up from 5.4% a year ago. The operating profit margin for manufacturing increased from 5.4% in the first quarter of last year to 6.2% this year, while the non-manufacturing sector improved from 5.3% to 5.9%. The increase in sales of high-value-added semiconductor products such as HBM3E and DDR5, along with rising ship new building prices and increased sales of high-value-added vessels such as LNG carriers, had a positive effect. The revenue increase of game companies also led the growth in the non-manufacturing sector.
Stability indicators also slightly improved. The liability ratio lowered to 89.9%, down from 91.2% in the previous fourth quarter. However, it is higher than the average value since the first quarter of 2015 (89.5%). The reliance on borrowing funds decreased from 25.1% to 25.0%. The historical average is 24.5%.