Brokerages Earn 2.85 Tril. Won in Net Profit in H1
South Korean securities companies’ first-half net profits reached a record high once again this year. However, their net profits in the second quarter slightly dropped compared to that in the first quarter.
The combined net profits of the 56 brokerages in the first half tentatively came to 2.85 trillion won (US$2.39 billion), up 5.7 percent from 2.70 trillion won (US$2.26 billion) a year ago, according to the data released by the Financial Supervisory Service on Sept. 10. It surpassed the previous record set in the first half of last year.
Net profits in the first quarter hit a quarterly record 1.46 trillion won (US$1.22 billion). The figure for the second quarter was 1.38 trillion won (US$1.16 billion), up 11 percent from 1.25 trillion won (US$1.05 billion) a year ago but down 5.6 percent from the first quarter.
Income from fees totaled 2.48 trillion won (US$2.08 billion) in the second quarter, up 10.5 percent from the previous quarter. Out of the total fee income, trustee fees reached 894.70 billion won (US$750.59 million) in the second quarter, similar to 891.30 billion won (US$747.73 million) in the first quarter, while the fee income in the investment banking (IB) sector rose 17.1 percent to 894.20 billion won (US$750.17 million). The IB sector fee income grew to the level of trustee fees, which have been securities firms’ principal source of profits for a long time. The asset management sector saw its fee income grow 16.3 percent to 298 billion won (US$250 million) in the second quarter. Other fees grew 17.8 percent to 390.60 billion won (US$327.68 million).