Kim Sunghwan's Korea Investment & Securities Surpasses 1 Trillion Won in Half-Year Operating Profit... Industry First

Korea Investment & Securities, led by CEO Kim Sunghwan, has become the first domestic securities firm to achieve an operating profit of 1 trillion won in a half-year period. The company also set a new record by surpassing 1 trillion won in net profit for the half-year.

On August 6, Korea Investment & Securities announced in its provisional earnings report that its consolidated operating profit for the first half of the year reached 1.1479 trillion won, a 48.1% increase compared to the same period last year. Second-quarter operating profit was 629.1 billion won, up 64.1% year-on-year, marking a new quarterly record following the previous quarter's 518.8 billion won.

Korea Investment & Securities is the first domestic securities firm to exceed 1 trillion won in operating profit on a half-year basis. During the same period, net profit also increased by 44.2% year-on-year to 1.0252 trillion won. As CEO Kim Sunghwan enters his second year in office, the balanced growth across all business divisions, combined with a profit base centered on capital management, is being credited for the significant improvement in performance.

By business segment, commission income expanded thanks to the advancement of the mobile trading system (MTS), which responded to increased demand for face-to-face stock trading. In the wealth management division, the balance of financial products held by individual clients grew from 67.7 trillion won at the beginning of the year to 76.1 trillion won at the end of June, driven by the strengthened supply of globally specialized products. The corporate finance division also posted strong results in traditional investment banking (IB) areas such as initial public offerings (IPO), rights offerings, and bond underwriting. Project financing (PF)-related income also showed a clear upward trend.

Continuing to set industry-first records, Korea Investment & Securities is now aiming to become the first operator of a Comprehensive Investment Account (IMA) in Korea. To evolve into a global investment bank like Goldman Sachs, operating an IMA?which allows client deposits to be invested in corporate finance-related assets?is essential. CEO Kim has demonstrated a strong commitment to the IMA business, including implementing relevant organizational restructuring early on. As of the end of June, Korea Investment & Securities' standalone equity capital stood at 10.5216 trillion won, meeting the IMA requirement of 8 trillion won in equity capital.

A representative from Korea Investment & Securities stated, "The various business divisions are working in harmony to achieve substantial profit growth. Moving forward, we will continue to drive creative business innovation and establish a stable yet growth-oriented profit structure on par with global investment banks."

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