Corporate profits fell 6.9% in 2020, impacted by pandemic

The most hard hit was the construction sector which shrank by 18.2% (2019: 1.2%) due to the decline in all sub-sectors of construction activities.

KUALA LUMPUR: Corporate profits earned by companies or the gross operating surplus (GOS) fell by 6.9% last year due to the lower capacity of production as the country was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Statistics Department reported.

Releasing details of its gross domestic product (GDP) income approach issued on Tuesday, it said they comprised of income earned by all the factors of production in an economy. They included compensation of employees (CE), GOS and taxes less subsidies on production and imports components.