Korea Investment & Securities Returns to '1 Trillion Club' with 1.3 Trillion Operating Profit Last Year

Korea Investment & Securities achieved outstanding results last year, surpassing 1 trillion won in both operating profit and net profit, rejoining the so-called '1 Trillion Club.' This was driven by a surge in brokerage fees from overseas stock trading, fueled by the 'Seohak Ant' craze, as well as improved profitability from strong performance in the Wealth Management (WM) sector.

On the 13th, Korea Investment & Securities announced preliminary results showing that its consolidated operating profit for last year increased by 93.3% year-on-year to 1.2837 trillion won. This marks the first time since 2021 that operating profit has exceeded 1 trillion won. During the same period, net profit also rose 86.5% year-on-year to 1.1123 trillion won, surpassing the 1 trillion won mark. Revenue increased slightly by 0.4% year-on-year to 21.6342 trillion won.

By business segment, brokerage performance was strong, supported by an increase in overseas stock trading volume. The Investment Banking (IB) division showed solid results in the Equity Capital Market (ECM) and Debt Capital Market (DCM). Korea Investment & Securities explained that fees related to Project Financing (PF) recovered significantly, leading to a substantial increase in related performance. Additionally, sales of bonds and commercial paper increased, and operating income from asset management more than doubled compared to the previous year.

Growth in the WM division was also notable. The balance of financial products held by individual customers at Korea Investment & Securities rose sharply from 53.4 trillion won to 67.8 trillion won over the course of one year. This means that approximately 1.2 trillion won in new funds flowed in monthly through retail channels.

A representative from Korea Investment & Securities stated, "This is among the largest in the domestic financial investment industry," adding, "Strengthening asset management services by actively launching excellent products and services through partnerships with global financial firms was key." They continued, "This year, we plan to focus on globalizing all business areas to secure differentiated competitiveness," and added, "We will continue to capture various business opportunities in the global market to provide timely offerings to domestic investors and grow together with our customers."