Seoul, Aug 20 (NationPress) A significant portion of midsized companies has reported a downturn in operating profit during the first half of the year due to ongoing economic uncertainties, as revealed by industry data on Wednesday.

Data from corporate analyst CEO Score indicates that 500 publicly listed midsized firms achieved a total operating profit of 6.34 trillion won (approximately $4.55 billion) in the January to June timeframe, reflecting a 4.1 percent decrease from 6.62 trillion won the previous year.

Conversely, sales experienced a 3.1 percent increase year-on-year, reaching 122.6 trillion won during this period, according to reports from Yonhap news agency.

Among the 500 companies surveyed, 269, or 53.8 percent, reported a decline in operating profit, while 60 firms, which accounts for 12 percent, remained unprofitable.

The information technology (IT) and electronics sectors experienced the most significant decline, with their combined operating profit plummeting 25 percent to 1 trillion won from 1.35 trillion won the previous year.

The construction sector also faced challenges, with its aggregated operating profit dropping 42.5 percent, or 222.3 billion won, compared to last year.

In stark contrast, the service sector saw remarkable growth, as operating profit surged 30.7 percent year-on-year to 1.04 trillion won, up from 797.7 billion won.

"The IT and electronics sectors were severely impacted by weak demand attributed to U.S. tariffs," noted a spokesperson from CEO Score, emphasizing that a prolonged economic downturn has heavily affected the financial health of midsized companies.

Meanwhile, major South Korean corporations, excluding chip manufacturer SK hynix Inc., reported a 1.7 percent decline in operating profit in the first half of the year due to persistent economic uncertainties, as indicated by industry data.

According to CEO Score, 342 of the top 500 companies in South Korea based on sales that released their semi-annual reports recorded a cumulative sales figure of 1,655.3 trillion won for the January to June period, marking a 5.5 percent increase year-on-year.

Despite this, their overall operating profit grew by 5.9 percent year-on-year to 118.5 trillion won.

However, when subtracting SK hynix, which delivered the highest operating profit of 16.7 trillion won during this period, the combined operating income for the remaining firms fell 1.7 percent compared to the previous year.

Tech titan Samsung Electronics ranked second with an operating profit of 11.4 trillion won for the first half, down 33.4 percent from last year.

Hyundai Motor Co. reported an operating profit of 7.2 trillion won, followed closely by Korea Electric Power Corp. with 5.9 trillion won and Kia Corp. with 5.8 trillion won.