South Korean SMEs' business outlook rises for second month in September

SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Yonhap) -- South 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 reached 80 for August from 78.2.

A reading below 100 indicates pessimists outnumber optimists.

According to the findings, the SBHI for the manufacturing sector came to 87.1 for September, up 7 points from the prior month, with that for nonmanufacturing companies rising by 3.7 points to 83.7.

More than 50 percent of the respondents cited sluggish sales as the biggest hurdle to their management, followed by rising raw material costs at 41 percent and cutthroat competition making up 31.4 percent. High labor costs was another factor causing concerns at 27.8 percent.

The average capacity utilization rate of manufacturing SMEs came to 75.2 percent in July, down 0.7 percentage point from the previous month, according to the survey.

The survey was taken from Aug. 12-19.