Brokerages' Q1 profit at record high on investment gains

All News 06:00 June 17, 2019

SEOUL, June 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korean securities firms saw their combined net profit jump to a record high in the first quarter, fueled by investment gains and higher commission fees from their wealth management businesses, data showed Monday.

The combined net profit of 56 brokerages stood at 1.4 trillion won (US$1.18 billion) in the January-March period, up 183.3 percent from three months earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

Brokerage commission fees rose 1 percent on-quarter to 891.3 billion won in the quarter.

Fees from investment banking services climbed 8 percent on-quarter to 763.3 billion won, and those from wealth management businesses gained 10 percent to 256.2 billion won for the quarter, the data showed.

The securities firms saw their combined return on equity fall 0.1 percentage point to 2.6 percent in the first quarter.

At the end of March, the combined assets of 56 brokerages stood at 472.2 trillion won, up 7.6 percent from three months earlier, according to the data.