Five Securities Firms on the Verge of Joining the '1 Trillion Won Club'... Strongest Performance and Active Shareholder Returns

Seoul Yeouido Securities District. / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Five securities firms are expected to join the annual operating profit 1 trillion won club. Among the securities firms that have announced their performance last year, only Mirae Asset Securities, NH Investment & Securities, and Samsung Securities exceeded 1 trillion won in operating profit. Korea Investment & Securities and Kiwoom Securities are also likely to achieve the 1 trillion won mark.

According to the financial investment industry on the 6th, Mirae Asset Securities, which first joined the '1 trillion won club' among securities firms in 2020, recorded operating profits exceeding 1 trillion won for two consecutive years. Last year's consolidated operating profit was tentatively estimated at 1.4858 trillion won, an increase of 33.01% compared to the previous year, marking the largest scale ever.

Annual pre-tax net profit increased by 44.05% to 1.6425 trillion won, and net profit for the period rose by 42.29% to 1.1872 trillion won, also exceeding 1 trillion won.

Mirae Asset Securities explained, "We achieved balanced growth across all sectors due to increased domestic and overseas commission income, stable operating profit and loss through risk management, successful large initial public offerings (IPOs), and activation of overseas subsidiaries."

NH Investment & Securities and Samsung Securities achieved their first operating profit exceeding 1 trillion won since their founding, setting record-high performances.

Based on tentative results, NH Investment & Securities' consolidated operating profit last year increased by 67.2% year-on-year to 1.3167 trillion won, and Samsung Securities rose by 93.4% to 1.3111 trillion won.

NH Investment & Securities explained that the increase in commission income from stock brokerage and corporate finance (IB) sectors, as well as improvement in interest income and expenses, led the performance. Samsung Securities also stated that each sector, including retail, IB, and asset management, grew evenly.

Among securities firms that have not yet announced their results, Korea Investment & Securities and Kiwoom Securities are highly likely to surpass 1 trillion won in annual operating profit.

Looking at the cumulative consolidated operating profit up to the third quarter of last year, Korea Investment & Securities already exceeded 1 trillion won with 1.0637 trillion won, and Kiwoom Securities approached 1 trillion won with 960.8 billion won.

Meritz Securities and Daishin Securities came close to 1 trillion won in operating profit. Meritz Securities showed a sharp growth with 948.9 billion won, up 14.6% from the previous year, and Daishin Securities increased by 274.4% to 895.6 billion won.

Building on strong performance, securities firms are actively implementing shareholder return policies. Mirae Asset Securities plans to pay cash dividends of 300 won per common share, 330 won per 1st preferred share, and 300 won per 2nd preferred share to shareholders this year, and to retire 20 million treasury shares worth 174 billion won. The total shareholder return amount combining dividends and treasury share retirement is 362.2 billion won, exceeding the shareholder return ratio of over 30% promised last year.

Samsung Securities resolved a dividend of 3,800 won per share, corresponding to a market dividend yield of 7.7%. Meritz Securities plans to pay cash dividends of 100 won per common share and 283 won per preferred share.

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