Corporate direct financing dips 7 pct in Aug.

Corporate direct financing in South Korea shrank from a month earlier in August due to declines in sales of both stocks and bonds, data showed Wednesday. Local businesses raised a combined total of 20.1 trillion won (US$15.06 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last month, down 1.5 trillion won, or 7 percent, from a month earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. Stock sales tumbled nearly 75 percent on-month to 383.7 billion won from 1.51 trillion won, with the volume of stocks sold through initial public offerings plunging 80.8 percent from 1.23 trillion won to 235.2 billion won over the cited period. Rights offerings also dropped 47.7 percent to 148.6 billion won from 283.8 billion won in July, according to the data. Debt offerings amounted to 19.7 trillion won in August, down 1.9 percent from 20.1 trillion won the previous month. Corporate bond sales dropped 56.1 percent on-month to 1.4 trillion won, while financial debentures issuance gained 3 percent over the same per iod to 16.83 trillion won. The value of outstanding corporate bonds had stood at 661.3 trillion won as of end-August, slightly up from 659.8 trillion won a month before. Local companies issued 37.3 trillion won worth of commercial papers in August, down 8.1 percent from 40.6 trillion won a month earlier, along with 74.9 trillion won in short-term bonds, up 4.8 percent on-month. Source: Yonhap News Agency