Only half of local firms set to meet sales targets

Nearly half of Korean companies are unlikely to meet their 2011 targets for sales and operating profits amid growing global economic uncertainties, a survey showed yesterday.

According to the poll by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), 44.7 percent of 309 surveyed companies said that it is impossible to achieve their sales and operating profit targets for the year.

Only 12.9 percent of the respondents said they are able to exceed their business targets, while 42.4 percent said they will manage to attain their goals, the poll showed.

In a poll conducted last year, 52.9 percent of companies were confident of meeting their business targets for 2010, while those who were pessimistic about their achievement reached only 21 percent.

The KCCI survey also said that 61.8 percent predicted the Korean economy will slow down next year, while a mere 7.8 percent expected a turnaround in the coming year. The survey was reported when many global research centers, including the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as well as the Asian Development Bank, have been lowering their outlooks for the global economies.

Nevertheless, 55.3 percent said that they will set higher aims for 2012, and 28.8 percent will have the similar levels of business targets next year, the poll showed.

Only 15.9 percent responded that they will set lower targets for sales and operating profits for next year given worsening economic conditions, it said.

In the poll, 50.8 percent said they would focus on strengthening existing businesses, while 26.5 percent answered that they will focus on finding new growth engines and 22.7 percent plan on expanding to new markets outside Korea.

Furthermore, 58.9 percent said stabilizing foreign exchange and raw material prices should be top priorities of the government to encourage aggressive corporate investment.

“It’s very difficult for Korean companies to map out new business targets for the coming year due to lingering economic uncertainties,” the KCCI said in a statement.

Yonhap