Corporate direct financing down in Oct. as bond sales decline

SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's corporate direct financing shrank in October from a month earlier due to a reduction in bond sales, data showed Tuesday.

Local companies raised a combined 19.15 trillion won (US$16.2 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last month, down 473.6 billion won from the previous month, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

Direct financing refers to raising funds directly from the stock and bond markets without borrowing from banks and other financial institutions.

The decline is attributed to a fall in corporate bond sales, which came to 16.67 trillion won in October, down 5.3 percent from a month earlier, the data showed.

In contrast, local firms' stock sales jumped 22.1 percent on-month to 2.49 trillion won in October, mostly driven by the 1.53 trillion won raised by mobile payment service provider Kakao Pay through an initial public offering (IPO).

In October, there were a total of 11 IPOs, through which companies raised a combined 2.09 trillion won, up 44.4 percent from a month earlier, the data showed.

kokobj@yna.co.kr
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