52 Large Companies Can't Pay Interest on Operating Profit

As of the third quarter of this year, 52 large domestic companies were found to be unable to pay interest on operating profit.

This is the result of a survey of operating profit and interest expenses of 271 companies that submitted quarterly reports among the top 500 companies in Korea by the CEO Score of the Corporate Data Research Institute.

As of the third quarter of this year, 52 companies with an interest compensation ratio of less than 1, that is, companies that are unable to pay interest with operating profit, up eight from last year.

Among these companies, there were 29 companies with operating losses, including LG Display, SK On, Hanwha Solution, Hotel Lotte, and Lotte Chemical.

16 places, including LG Display, SK On, and Lotte Shopping, recorded an interest compensation ratio of less than 1 for the third consecutive year.

The interest coverage ratio for all surveyed companies rose to 4.97 in the third quarter of this year from 3.01 in the third quarter of last year.

However, the interest compensation ratio of the rest of the companies except SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics and KEPCO, whose operating profit increased significantly, fell from 4.34 to 3.98.