Revenue for 20,914 companies, including 11,300 manufacturers and 9,614 non-manufacturers subject to an external audit, increased 7.4 percent in the January-March quarter compared to the same quarter of last year, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It was the first growth in nine quarters since the fourth quarter of 2018 as the economy recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic shock.
Revenue among manufacturers soared 10.4 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, after gaining 1.3 percent in the previous quarter.
Revenue for non-manufacturers rose 3.3 percent in the first quarter, after declining 4.1 percent in the prior quarter.
The companies' ratio of operating profit to revenue stood at 6.4 percent in the first quarter, higher than 4.2 percent tallied a year earlier and 3.3 percent in the previous quarter.
The ratio of operating profit to interest income advanced to 823.5 percent in the first quarter from 542.7 percent in the prior quarter.
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