Seoul, Aug 20 (NationPress) A significant number of midsized firms have reported a drop in operating profit for the first half of this year, reflecting ongoing economic uncertainties, according to industry data released on Wednesday.

As per the statistics provided by corporate tracker CEO Score, 500 publicly listed midsized firms generated a total operating profit of 6.34 trillion won ($4.55 billion) during the January-June timeframe, marking a 4.1 percent decrease from 6.62 trillion won in the same period last year.

On a positive note, sales increased by 3.1 percent year-on-year, reaching 122.6 trillion won in the same duration, as reported by Yonhap news agency.

Among these 500 companies, 269, constituting 53.8 percent, experienced declines in operating profit, while 60 firms, or 12 percent of the total, reported losses.

The information technology (IT) and electronics sector faced the most significant downturn, with combined operating profit plummeting by 25 percent to 1 trillion won from 1.35 trillion won the previous year.

The construction industry also encountered difficulties, with its total operating profit falling by 42.5 percent, or 222.3 billion won, compared to the previous year.

In contrast, the service sector showcased the strongest growth, with operating profit surging by 30.7 percent year-on-year to 1.04 trillion won from 797.7 billion won.

"The IT and electronics sector has been severely impacted by weak demand attributed to U.S. tariffs," explained an official from CEO Score. They further noted that a prolonged economic downturn has significantly affected the profitability of midsized firms.

Meanwhile, major South Korean corporations, excluding the chip giant SK hynix Inc., reported a 1.7 percent decline in operating profit during the first half of the year due to ongoing economic uncertainties, according to industry data.

As revealed by CEO Score, 342 of the nation’s top 500 companies by sales that disclosed their half-yearly results recorded a combined sales figure of 1,655.3 trillion won for the January-June period, reflecting a 5.5 percent increase from last year.

Their total operating profit rose by 5.9 percent year-on-year to 118.5 trillion won.

However, excluding SK hynix—which reported the highest operating profit of 16.7 trillion won for the period—the combined operating income of these firms declined by 1.7 percent compared to the previous year.

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

Hyundai Motor Co. achieved 7.2 trillion won in operating profit, followed by Korea Electric Power Corp. with 5.9 trillion won and Kia Corp. with 5.8 trillion won.