[THE INVESTOR] Meritz Securities’ second-quarter operating profits came to 109.2 billion won (US$98.38 million), the company said in a regulatory filing on Aug. 1. Despite the drop, this is the first time Meritz Securities’ quarterly operating profits have come in at above 100 billion won since the second quarter of last year.

Compared to the same period last year, the figure is 22.4 percent lower. Meritz Securities’ net profit came to 83.2 billion won, down 8.8 percent over the same period. The company’s sales for the second quarter of the year, however, rose 34.8 percent to 1.17 trillion won.

The company said that net and operating profits showed a year-on-year drop because the figures for the second quarter of 2015 were record highs.

Meritz Securities said that performance improved across the board during the quarter that ended June 30.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)