SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's corporate earnings posted a double-digit fall in the first half of this year on the global trade dispute and the downturn in business cycle of the global semiconductor industry, the bourse operator data showed Monday.

Consolidated operating profit of 574 companies, which settle accounts in December, exclude financial firms and are listed on the main bourse, tumbled 37.09 percent in the first half from a year earlier, according to Korea Exchange, the main bourse operator.

Their revenue inched up 0.83 percent in the six-month period, but net income plunged 42.95 percent.

During the April-June quarter, the listed companies' operating profit and net income dropped 37.43 percent and 47.57 percent each compared with the same quarter of last year.

Those were faster than the declines of 36.88 percent and 38.75 percent each in operating profit and net income for the January-March quarter.

The worsening of corporate earnings came as the global trade dispute exacerbated the global economic slowdown, adding to uncertainty over the global chip industry's downturn.

South Korea's export kept sliding for the eighth consecutive month through July amid the lingering uncertainties.

Adding to the concerns, the trade spat between South Korea and Japan aggravated as Japan removed South Korea earlier this month from its whitelist of trusted trading partners, which are given preferential export procedure. Seoul also dropped Tokyo off its whitelist of trusted export partners. Enditem

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