Stock Market Boom Drives Securities Firms' Net Profit Close to 10 Trillion Won Last Year

FSS Announces 2025 Operating Performance of Securities and Futures Companies

Net Profit Jumps 38.9% Year-on-Year to 9.6455 Trillion Won

Last year, the net profit of domestic securities companies nearly reached 10 trillion won, buoyed by a bullish stock market. This marks an increase of almost 40% compared to two years ago.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's "2025 Business Performance (Preliminary) of Securities and Futures Companies" released on March 26, the combined net profit of 61 securities companies stood at 9.6455 trillion won, up 38.9% from the previous year's 6.9441 trillion won. This marks three consecutive years of net profit growth, with the pace of increase also accelerating. As of the end of last year, the return on equity (ROE) stood at 10.0%, up 2.1 percentage points from 7.9% a year earlier.

This growth is attributed to a surge in trading volume driven by bullish domestic and overseas stock markets, which in turn led to a sharp increase in commission income. In 2025, securities companies' commission income rose 28.3% from the previous year to 16.6159 trillion won. Brokerage commissions soared 37.3% to 8.6021 trillion won.

Both the investment banking (IB) and asset management sectors posted steady growth. IB commissions increased 9.2% to 4.0864 trillion won, mainly due to expanded underwriting and arrangement activities, while asset management commissions jumped 26.4% to 1.6333 trillion won, boosted by increased fund sales and investment advisory services.

An official from the Financial Supervisory Service explained, "Amid the stock market boom, the increase in domestic stock trading volume led to a rise in brokerage commissions, resulting in improved performance for both large and small-to-mid-sized securities companies. In addition, the expansion of credit offerings by comprehensive investment business entities contributed to higher interest income. Large firms mainly saw improved results in the IB and asset management sectors, while small and mid-sized firms posted gains primarily from proprietary trading."

Proprietary trading income, or profits generated from direct investments using securities firms' own capital, amounted to 12.7456 trillion won, up 1.4% year-on-year. Income from stocks and funds surged by 10.0229 trillion won (a 1,545.6% increase) due to a sharp rise in domestic stock indices. However, income from derivatives plunged by 7.189 trillion won (down 484.9%) due to increased hedging losses. Bond-related profit totaled 10.7458 trillion won, down 2.6636 trillion won (a 19.9% decrease) from the previous year.

In addition, overall performance was bolstered by increased foreign exchange gains due to currency fluctuations and higher interest income from expanded credit offerings.

The financial scale of securities companies also expanded. As of the end of last year, total assets stood at 943.9 trillion won, a 25.0% increase from the previous year-end. This was mainly driven by an increase in holdings of securities such as stocks, as well as cash and deposits. Shareholders' equity rose 11.7% to 102.4 trillion won. The net capital ratio, a key soundness indicator, stood at 915.1%, with all securities companies exceeding the regulatory standard.

During the same period, the net profit of the three futures companies rose 10.8% to 88.6 billion won. The ROE remained unchanged from the previous year at 11.6%.

The Financial Supervisory Service official added, "There are growing concerns over heightened uncertainties both domestically and internationally, including recent developments in the Middle East, increased stock price volatility, and rising market interest rates. The Financial Supervisory Service will closely monitor liquidity and soundness at securities companies, encourage proactive disposal of non-performing assets, improve the NCR calculation method and liquidity regulatory framework, strengthen loss absorption capacity, and support enhanced risk management capabilities."

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