Analyzing External Audit Corporations' Operating Profit Margin of 16.9%: The Gap Between Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing

News that overall corporate performance has improved changes the atmosphere of a management meeting, but it does not immediately serve as a basis for changing the numbers in a business plan. According to the corporate business analysis for the second quarter of 2026 released by the Bank of Korea on September 9, the growth, profitability, and stability of corporations subject to external audit all improved. However, looking inside the aggregate figures reveals a high operating profit margin in manufacturing alongside stagnation in non-manufacturing. The differences in profit structures by industry are too large to be bundled together under the expression of an identical economic recovery. The total industry sales-to-operating profit ratio rose from 5.1% in the second quarter of last year to 16.9% in the second quarter of this year. While the manufacturing sector climbed from 5.1% to 24.0%…