South Korean brokerage houses are expected to post strong first-quarter earnings, buoyed by a surge in trading activity despite heightened market volatility driven by geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic pressures.
According to financial data provider FnGuide on Tuesday, the combined net profit attributable to controlling shareholders for major brokerages — including Korea Investment Holdings, Mirae Asset Securities, Samsung Securities, Kiwoom Securities and NH Investment & Securities — is estimated at 2.79 trillion won ($1.9 billion) for the January–March period.
The figure marks a 71.3 percent increase from 1.63 trillion won projected three months earlier.
The five firms are expected to post combined net profits of around 3.1 trillion won, more than doubling from a year earlier and exceeding market consensus by over 20 percent.
Among them, Mirae Asset Securities is projected to post the strongest earnings growth, with Yuanta Securities estimating its first-quarter net profit could reach 1.32 trillion won.
Earnings estimates have also been revised sharply upward for other firms over the past three months, rising 54.4 percent for NH Investment & Securities, 45.6 percent for Korea Investment Holdings, 35.5 percent for Samsung Securities and 32.8 percent for Kiwoom Securities.
The earnings boost has been largely driven by a surge in brokerage commissions.
Average daily trading value on the domestic stock market reached 67 trillion won in the first quarter, up 258.3 percent from a year earlier. The number of stock trading accounts surpassed 103.7 million as of end-March, continuing to rise after exceeding the 100 million mark for the first time in late January.
jylee@heraldcorp.com
