April 27, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korean securities companies saw their combined net profit jump in the first quarter of this year, thanks to higher commission fees on ample market liquidity, government data showed on May 28.

The combined net profit of 55 brokerages stood at 1.45 trillion won (US$1.35 billion) in the January-March period, up 61.4 percent from a quarter ago, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

It was the highest quarterly profit since the first quarter of 2007, when the figure was 1.2 trillion won.

Brokerage commission fees were 2.6 trillion won last quarter, up a solid 18.6 percent from a quarter earlier.

Securities firms saw their combined return on equity in the first quarter rise 0.9 percentage point to 2.7 percent.

At the end of March, the combined assets of 55 brokerages stood at 424.1 trillion won, up 8.7 percent from a quarter earlier, according to the data.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)