April 27, 2024
Economy
Debt-equity ratio of public firms falls in 2016
[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s state-funded corporations saw their debt-equity ratio decline for four years in a row last year, the Finance Ministry said on May 1.
The DER of 329 public firms reached 167 percent as of end-2016, down 16 percentage points from a year earlier, with their combined credit totaling 499.4 trillion won (US$437.90 billion), according to the ministry.
It has been on a steady decline since 2013, when it fell 3 percentage points from a record 220 percent tallied in 2012. The 2016 figure also marked the lowest DER since 2010 when it posted 165 percent.
Their combined debt accounted for a six-year low of 30 percent of the country’s gross domestic product last year, down from 32 percent in the previous year. They posted 16.1 trillion won in net profit last year, up 3.6 trillion won from a year earlier, thanks to low fuel and borrowing costs.
The total assets of the public organizations amounted to 798.7 trillion won, with their equity capital totaling 299.4 trillion won.
By Alex Lee and news wires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)
The DER of 329 public firms reached 167 percent as of end-2016, down 16 percentage points from a year earlier, with their combined credit totaling 499.4 trillion won (US$437.90 billion), according to the ministry.
It has been on a steady decline since 2013, when it fell 3 percentage points from a record 220 percent tallied in 2012. The 2016 figure also marked the lowest DER since 2010 when it posted 165 percent.
Their combined debt accounted for a six-year low of 30 percent of the country’s gross domestic product last year, down from 32 percent in the previous year. They posted 16.1 trillion won in net profit last year, up 3.6 trillion won from a year earlier, thanks to low fuel and borrowing costs.
The total assets of the public organizations amounted to 798.7 trillion won, with their equity capital totaling 299.4 trillion won.
By Alex Lee and news wires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)
