[Provided by Korea Investment & Securities]
[Provided by Korea Investment & Securities]

Korea Investment & Securities posted operating profit exceeding 2 trillion won ($1.4 billion) in the first half of this year, riding a buoyant stock market. Having become the first domestic securities firm to break the 2 trillion won annual operating profit barrier last year, the company matched that full-year figure in just six months.

The firm said Thursday its first-half consolidated operating profit reached 2.17 trillion won, up 89.1 percent from the same period last year. Net profit for the period rose 68.9 percent to 1.73 trillion won over the same span.

Second-quarter earnings surpassed the previous record set in the first quarter, which had been the highest quarterly result in the company's history. Second-quarter operating profit came in at 1.21 trillion won, with net profit for the period at 946.4 billion won.

First-half revenue was spread across business lines without heavy concentration in any single area: brokerage accounted for 41.2 percent, trading 27.0 percent, investment banking 16.0 percent and wealth management 15.8 percent.

"This reflects an organic synergy structure in which the competitiveness of our retail channels contributes to IB deal sourcing, while our sophisticated trading capabilities in turn feed stable revenue generation and product supply back to retail finance," a company official said.

By segment, brokerage commission revenue rose 44.2 percent quarter-on-quarter to 452.4 billion won, driven by the strong equity market.

The company expanded AI-based investment information through ongoing upgrades to its mobile trading platform "Korea Investment," improving the convenience of non-face-to-face investing. It also broadened retail customer touchpoints by diversifying partner channels to include Coinone, Investing.com and Naver Pay.

The wealth management segment posted commission revenue of 251.3 billion won, up 106.8 percent, on the back of strong sales of key financial products including promissory notes, IMA and beneficiary certificates.

Individual customer financial product balances grew to 105 trillion won as of end-June, reflecting average monthly net inflows of 3.3 trillion won from retail investors in the first half alone.

The firm also stood out in the defined-contribution and individual retirement pension markets, attracting around 5.7 trillion won in retirement pension assets — equivalent to 16.9 percent of total net inflows across the entire securities industry.

The investment banking segment maintained solid performance amid broader market headwinds, topping the industry in commission revenue from equity capital markets, rights offerings and domestic bond underwriting. However, segment revenue fell 10.5 percent quarter-on-quarter to 193.2 billion won.

The trading segment reinforced its business model by aligning retail product supply and IB deal sourcing with the emerging IMA market, underpinning the firm's strong overall results.

The balance of promissory notes outstanding reached 22.47 trillion won as of June, up slightly from the previous quarter, while IMA balances stood at 2.94 trillion won. Korea Investment & Securities' separate-basis equity capital as of end-June was 13.19 trillion won, the largest in the domestic securities industry.

"We are sustaining stable growth on the back of a balanced revenue structure that is not dependent on any particular business segment or market condition," a company official said. "We will continue to strengthen the foundation for our leap to a global-caliber financial investment firm by rigorously managing risk and maintaining differentiated competitiveness in the face of high market volatility."


jiyun@heraldcorp.com