Kiwoom Securities Reports Q3 Operating Profit of 355.5 Billion KRW... Achieves Record High Performance

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Kiwoom Securities has achieved its highest quarterly performance ever. The company explained that this is particularly meaningful as it led balanced growth across business segments, not only with remarkable growth in the retail sector driven by active participation of individual investors but also with growth in the IB wholesale sector despite the challenging business environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the 12th, Kiwoom Securities announced that its consolidated operating profit for the third quarter increased by 314% year-on-year to 355.5 billion KRW, and net profit rose by 295% to 263.4 billion KRW, achieving the highest quarterly performance ever.

This record surpassed the previous quarterly best results achieved in the second quarter (operating profit of 314 billion KRW, net profit of 219.9 billion KRW) within just one quarter, with the retail sector’s performance playing a key role in reaching the record high.

The cumulative operating profit for the first three quarters reached 679.8 billion KRW, and net profit was 492.8 billion KRW, significantly exceeding the full-year 2019 figures of 473.7 billion KRW and 362.8 billion KRW, respectively.

In the retail sector, Kiwoom is further solidifying its position as a retail powerhouse. In the third quarter, it recorded a 22.8% market share in the domestic stock market and 29.6% based on individual investors, with the daily domestic stock transaction amount exceeding 19.5 trillion KRW, breaking the previous record of 16.8 trillion KRW set in the first quarter.

More than 940,000 new accounts were opened in the third quarter alone, bringing the total number of new accounts opened through Kiwoom Securities this year to 2.4 million.

The explosive increase in new account openings has led to growth in customer deposits and active accounts, contributing to a substantial increase in revenue in the retail sector.

Not only in domestic stocks but also in overseas stocks, the cumulative transaction amount for the third quarter increased by 1860% compared to the same period last year.

Notably, there has been a significant increase in millennial customers centered around overseas stock clients. As of the third quarter, 66% of overseas stock accounts are held by customers in their 20s and 30s, which is viewed positively in terms of future value. In overseas derivatives, based on the platform’s dominance effect, daily trading volume of overseas futures and options increased by 209% year-on-year.

Kiwoom Securities is diversifying its business portfolio and revenue structure within the retail sector by increasing the proportion of overseas revenue, including overseas stocks and overseas derivatives, and plans to continuously expand its dominance in the retail sector.

In the IB sector, despite the deteriorated business environment caused by the COVID-19 crisis, the company recorded a year-to-date (YTD) net operating income of 121.4 billion KRW, a 28% increase compared to the same period last year, by maintaining steady growth in corporate bond underwriting and real estate finance. Particularly in the DCM sector, it ranked 7th in the industry for domestic bond lead management and underwriting performance, showing consistent results in the traditional IB sector.

In the wholesale sector, in addition to stock and bond brokerage services for corporations, outstanding performance in the over-the-counter derivatives sector led to a 56% year-to-date growth compared to the same period last year, with net operating income reaching 80 billion KRW by the third quarter.

A Kiwoom Securities official stated, "We plan to achieve continuous growth by expanding and strengthening our business base in IB and wholesale sectors while expanding our dominance as a financial platform operator centered on the retail sector."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.