SME biz sentiment up for 2nd month for Sept. but still below par
Korean smaller companies' business outlook rose for the second consecutive month for September but still remains below par, a poll showed Sunday. The survey of 3,060 small and midsized enterprises (SMEs) said the small business health index (SBHI) came to 84.8 for next month, up 4.8 points from August, according to the Korea Federation of SMEs. The index rose for two straight months since it…
Korean smaller companies saw a rise in business outlook for the second month in September, according to a poll conducted by the Korea Federation of SMEs. The Small Business Health Index (SBHI) for the upcoming month stood at 84.8, a 4.8-point increase from the previous month's 80. The index has been rising for two consecutive months, moving from 80 in August to the current 84.8.
A reading below 100 suggests that the pessimists outweigh the optimists. The manufacturing sector had an SBHI of 87.1 for September, up 7 points from the prior month, while nonmanufacturing companies experienced a 3.7-point rise to 83.7.
Over 50% of the respondents cited sluggish sales as the primary challenge to their businesses, followed by rising raw material costs at 41% and intense competition at 31.4%. High labor costs were another concern, cited by 27.8% of the respondents. The average capacity utilization rate of manufacturing SMEs stood at 75.2% in July, a 0.7 percentage point decrease from the previous month.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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