농업법인의 운영실태와 외부감사대상 농업기업의 주요경영지표 분석*

This study reviews the overall status and management conditions of agricultural corporations, analyzing major management indices of those subject to external auditing in terms of safety, profitability, activity, and growth rates. According to the analysis on management conditions, of agricultural corporations in operation (at the end of 2007), farming corporations and agricultural company corporations accounted for 94.3%. As regards the operation agent, a joint investor and a single representative amounted to 70.8% while more than 94% of the investors were farmers. 66.6% of the corporations kept balance sheets, and the ratio of liabilities to capital was 188.5%. The annual sales per a corporation increased by 2.9% compared with the previous year but operating profits decreased by 37.8%. The major management indices of agricultural corporations, subject to external auditing, deteriorated in terms of safety(e.g. current ratio, debt ratio, and dependence on a loan) and profitability (e.g. return on asset, net income to sales). There was no significant change but a slight decline in the activity indices (e.g. total asset turnover ratio, receivable turnover, inventory turnover ratio). In consideration of the growth indices, tangible assets increasing rate was relatively low while inventory asset increasing rate was high, indicating that the agricultural companies were lacking in abilities to create profits compared to other industries.