[Market Focus] Meritz Financial Group Surges Over 8% on Record Half-Year Earnings

Meritz Financial Group is experiencing a significant surge, posting record-high results for the first half of this year.

As of 9:04 a.m. on August 14, shares of Meritz Financial Group were trading at 123,000 won on the Korea Exchange, up 9,200 won (8.08%) from the previous day.

The previous day, Meritz Financial Group announced that its consolidated net profit for the first half of the year reached 1.3584 trillion won. This marks a 2.3% increase compared to the previous record of 1.3275 trillion won in the first half of last year. Second-quarter net profit also hit a quarterly record, rising 0.2% year-on-year to 737.6 billion won.

Lim Heeyeon, a researcher at Shinhan Investment Corp., commented on Meritz Financial Group, stating, "Its subsidiary, Meritz Securities, has low profit sensitivity to stock market fluctuations, while Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance demonstrates robust profit-generating capacity based on a stable Contractual Service Margin (CSM). This makes Meritz a relatively safe haven when the investment appeal of the securities and insurance sectors is low." Lim added, "It is also positive that the company is showing a strong willingness to actively buy back and cancel its own shares when the stock is undervalued." Shinhan Investment Corp. raised its target price for Meritz Financial Group from 143,000 won to 149,000 won, naming it the top pick within the securities and insurance sectors.