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Driven by a semiconductor boom, domestic companies’ sales surged 27% in Q2, April-June, of this year compared to the same period a year ago, with an operating profit margin of 16.9%. Both figures set all-time highs. However, excluding Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the sales growth rate drops to the 12% range, and the operating profit margin falls significantly to 6.2%.

According to the Bank of Korea’s ‘2026 Q2 Corporate Management Analysis,’ which estimated based on a sample survey of 4,260 out of 26,509 externally audited corporate entities on September 9, the sales of all externally audited companies increased by 26.7% compared to the same period last year. This is the highest growth rate since quarterly statistics began in 2015, surpassing the previous record of 24.9% in Q4 2021. It is nearly double the 13.5% growth rate recorded in the first quarter of this year.

The operating profit margin of companies also jumped from 5.1% in Q2 last year to 16.9% in Q2 this year. This means that for every 1,000 Korean won in sales, companies earned 169 Korean won in operating profit. The previous record of 13.2% set in the first quarter was surpassed just one quarter later.

However, when excluding Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the sales growth rate drops from 26.7% to 12.0%, a decrease of 14.7 percentage points. The operating profit margin also falls from 16.9% to 6.2%. The manufacturing sector’s sales growth rate was 39.6% when including the two companies but only 14.0% when excluding them. The operating profit margin for manufacturing also declines from 24.0% to 7.2%, narrowing the gap with the non-manufacturing sector (5.0%) to 2.2 percentage points.

A Bank of Korea official stated, “Even when excluding Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, both growth and profitability have improved,” but added, “The overall improvement in indicators was mainly driven by the semiconductor manufacturing sector.” Due to expanded AI demand and rising memory prices, sales in the electronics, video, and communication equipment sector increased by 119.7% compared to the same period last year. Non-manufacturing sales also rose by 9.7%, led by transportation and wholesale/retail industries, but the operating profit margin slightly declined from 5.1% to 5.0%. Construction sector sales increased by 0.3%, marking the first growth in eight quarters, driven by rising construction volumes for semiconductor factories.

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