South Korean companies' combined sales jumped 8 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier helped by increased sales of semiconductor and other electronic goods, central bank data showed Thursday.

The on-year sales growth rate marks a turnaround from a 1.9 percent contraction in the second quarter of last year, the Bank of Korea said in a statement.

The yearly growth rate for the second-quarter also marks the highest since the first quarter of 2012 when the comparable figure was 10.4 percent.
 

The BOK said brisk sales of semiconductors, other electronic goods and machinery buoyed the overall sales of local companies in the April-June period.

Sales at large conglomerates climbed 8.5 percent in the second quarter from a 2.3 percent contraction in the same period a year earlier. Small and medium-sized enterprises also posted a 5.5 percent increase in their sales in the April-June period, compared with a 0.2 percent contraction a year earlier, the data said.

Korean companies' operating profit margin -- the ratio of operating income to sales -- came to 7.2 percent in the second quarter, up from 6.9 percent a year earlier. It means that companies earned 72 won when they sold a product worth 1,000 won ($0.88).

The figure represents the highest since the third quarter of 2010, when it stood at 7.2 percent, the bank said.

The companies' financial health slightly improved as their assets grew 1.5 percent in the second quarter from a quarter earlier, while their debt ratio fell to 86 percent from 89.2 percent during the same period, it said.

The BOK said its survey was conducted on 3,324 companies between Aug. 1 and Sept. 8. (Yonhap)