Stock Large and Small
Samsung Securities and Meritz Securities ranked 1st in net profits among large stock companies and small stock companies, respectively, last year.
According to the Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA), Samsung Securities recorded 243.522 billion won (US$222.64 million) in net profits among 63 stock firms, including foreign firms, last year.
Korea Investment & Securities came in 2nd with 220.85 billion won (US$201.91 million), KDB Daewoo Securities in 3rd with 192.815 billion won (US$176.28 million), Mirae Asset Securities in 4th with 149.332 billion won (US$136.53 million), Meritz Securities in 5th with 125.939 billion won (US$115.14 million), and Shinhan Investment in 6th with 112.478 billion won (US$102.83 million).
Of the nine large firms which have more than 1 trillion won (US$913 million) of equity capital, Samsung Securities recorded the highest rate with 7.3 percent of return on equity (ROE). There were three companies that surpassed 5 percent of ROE - Korea Investment & Securities with 7 percent, Mirae Asset Securities with 6.6 percent, and Hana Daetoo Securities with 5.1 percent.
Shinhan Investment came in 5th with 4.9 percent; KDB Daewoo Securities in 6th with 4.8 percent; and NH Investment & Securities, which was the former Woori Investment & Securities, came in 7th with 1.7 percent. Also, Hyundai Securities, which got out of the red, recorded 0.6 percent, while Daishin Securities recorded 0.3 percent.
The high rank of Samsung Securities is mostly due to the fact that it made non-operating profits of 174.6 billion won (US$159.63 million). The figure reflected gains from the sales of Samsung Asset Management worth 100 billion won (US$91.42 million). Korea Investment & Securities, which maintained the number one spot in the industry, slipped to 2nd. Mirae Asset Securities saw growth due to the profit increase in the trading business sector, including the management of bonds and derivative products.
Among medium and large-sized firms with more than 500 billion won (US$457 million) to less than 1 trillion won (US$913 million), Meritz Securities ranked 1st with 16.3 percent. Considering the ROE alone, the company has the highest figure among domestic stock firms. Meritz Securities saw the improvement in performance of every business sector, such as investment banking, wholesale, and retail sectors, improving profitability.