KB News Desk
Record W1.91tr quarterly earnings trail only KB Financial as investment gains and overseas operations surge
Mirae Asset Securities’ quarterly profit eclipsed three of South Korea’s four largest banking groups, trailing only industry leader KB Financial, as investment gains and overseas growth lifted net income close to 2 trillion won ($1.4 billion).
The brokerage earned 1.91 trillion won in the second quarter, surpassing Shinhan Financial’s 1.82 trillion won as well as Hana Financial and Woori Financial. Shinhan, KB, Hana and Woori make up Korea’s four dominant banking groups.
Mirae Asset Securities also became the first Korean brokerage to post net income of more than 1 trillion won for two consecutive quarters.
The company said Wednesday that consolidated net income surged 90 percent from the previous quarter, while pretax profit climbed 86 percent to 2.53 trillion won.
Its quarterly profit came close to KB Financial’s 1.99 trillion won, narrowing the gap with Korea’s largest financial group to about 80 billion won.
For the first half, Mirae Asset Securities’ net income soared 338 percent on-year to 2.91 trillion won, while pretax profit jumped 349 percent to 3.89 trillion won.
That placed the brokerage third among Korea’s major financial groups by first-half net income, behind KB Financial’s 3.88 trillion won and Shinhan Financial’s 3.44 trillion won. It outpaced Hana Financial’s 2.42 trillion won and Woori Financial’s 1.61 trillion won.
Shareholders’ equity stood at 16.2 trillion won at the end of June, while annualized return on equity reached 39.5 percent for the first half.
Investment gains were a major driver of the record earnings. Trading and other financial income more than doubled from the previous quarter to 836.9 billion won.
Overseas operations contributed 609.1 billion won in pretax profit, accounting for about 24 percent of the consolidated total, up 6 percentage points from the first quarter.
The US generated 37 percent of overseas pretax profit, followed by Hong Kong at 35 percent, London at 18 percent and India at 5 percent.
Domestic operations also benefited from stronger trading and an increase in client assets.
Brokerage fee income rose 36 percent from the previous quarter to 625.6 billion won. Fees from financial product sales reached a record 131 billion won, up from 112.5 billion won in the first quarter.
Investment banking fee income increased 65 percent to 42.8 billion won.
Client assets in Korea and overseas grew by 124 trillion won during the quarter to 784 trillion won.
Pension assets exceeded 80 trillion won at the end of June. Retirement pension reserves grew more than 60 percent over the past year, about 2.5 times the market average, according to the company.
Mirae Asset Securities is also expanding its global wealth management business.
In June, it launched MAPS, a platform covering traditional and digital assets, in Hong Kong. The company plans to introduce the service in other markets, including the US and Singapore.
It is also developing a platform that would allow overseas investors to invest directly in Korean stocks and Mirae Asset exchange-traded funds.
In Korea, the brokerage is preparing for the institutionalization of security token offerings. It also plans to expand into real-world asset tokenization and security tokens through Digital X, formerly Korbit.
“The company’s continued growth and corporate value have always gone hand in hand with the growth of our clients’ assets,” a Mirae Asset Securities official said.
“We will continue to strengthen long-term trust with clients and develop into a global investment platform that contributes to their successful asset management.”
