Corporate direct financing in South Korea rose significantly from a month earlier in September on a sharp rise in debt sales, data showed Tuesday. Local companies raised a combined 31.6 trillion won (US$23 billion) last month by selling stocks and bonds, up 11.55 trillion won, or 57.6 percent, from 20.1 trillion won in August, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. Equity issues plummeted 71 percent to 111.1 billion won from 383.7 billion won over the cited period. The volume of stocks sold through initial public offerings plunged 73.7 percent on-month to 61.8 billion won, while the volume of rights offerings also dropped 66.8 percent to 49.3 billion won in September from 148.6 billion won the previous month, according to the financial regulator. A rise in bond issues more than offset the decline in stock sales. In September, local businesses issued 31.5 trillion won worth of bonds, up 11.8 trillion won, or 59.9 percent, from a month earlier. The value of outstanding corporate bon ds stood at 673 trillion won as of end-September, up 11.7 trillion won from a month before. Local companies also issued 41.3 trillion won worth of commercial papers in September, up 10.7 percent from a month earlier, along with Source: Yonhap News Agency