Results of non-financial corporations to 2018 Q4 : preliminary year-end data

Abstract

The activity of non-financial corporations remained on an upward trend in 2018, leading to overall increases in ordinary profit (ordinary net profit grew by 5%, up 0.3 pp from 2017) and employment, which were also seen in most sectors and firms. As a result of the good corporate earnings performance, average rates of return continued to improve, and the spread over the cost of borrowing widened further. Extraordinary revenue and costs had a positive impact on net profit in 2018, resulting in strong net profit growth. Average debt ratios, relative to assets and ordinary profit, fell. Lastly, the debt burden ratio also declined, driven by the lower cost of borrowing and the growth in surpluses. A box analysing the recent developments in trade credit and average payment and collection periods is included in this article