Brokerages’ net nearly doubled in 2015

Korean brokerage firms’ net profit nearly doubled in 2015 from a year earlier due to an increase in commission income, the financial watchdog said Monday.

The combined net income of 56 brokerage firms stood at 3.23 trillion won ($2.6 billion) in 2015, up 91.7 percent from the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. 

(Yonhap)

The robust performance is attributable to a rise in commission income, which surged 32.6 percent on-year to 7.93 trillion won last year, according to the FSS.

Korea Exchange figures showed that last year, the combined daily turnover of the main KOSPI and secondary KOSDAQ markets stood at 8.87 trillion won, up 49 percent from the previous year.

Of the securities companies, 47 posted net income of a combined 3.27 trillion won, while nine logged net losses totaling 39.9 billion won, according to the watchdog.

Their return on equity, a key gauge of profitability, came to 7.3 percent in 2015, up 3.2 percentage points from the previous year, it noted.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)