Buoyed by a bull market at home, domestic securities firms' net profit surpassed 5 trillion won in the second quarter. As stock market transaction value and customer asset holdings grew, fee income surged, and gains from proprietary trading also jumped on rising share prices.
According to the "Q2 2026 securities and futures company operating performance" released by the Financial Supervisory Service on the 10th, the second-quarter net profit of 61 securities companies was 5.1914 trillion won. That was up 20% from the previous quarter and 82.1% from a year earlier.
Fee income rose sharply as stock market transaction value and customer asset management scale increased. Second-quarter fee income at securities firms came to 8.8575 trillion won, up 2.1746 trillion won (32.5%) from the previous quarter.
By institutional sector, brokerage commissions rose 1.4657 trillion won (34%) to 5.7708 trillion won on increased stock transaction value; asset management fees increased 381 billion won (56.7%) to 1.0531 trillion won; and investment banking (IB) fees climbed 259.3 billion won (27.5%) to 1.2008 trillion won.
Proprietary trading gains, the revenue from securities firms' direct investments, also increased. Proprietary trading profit came to 5.9825 trillion won, up 1.8799 trillion won (45.8%) from the previous quarter. In particular, with a sharp rise in stock prices, stock- and fund-related gains increased by 3.73826 trillion won. In contrast, derivatives-related gains decreased by 3.6187 trillion won.
Other asset gains, including foreign exchange gains and losses, also increased. Other asset gains totaled 1.3631 trillion won, up 322.5 billion won (31%) from the previous quarter. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said, "Despite a higher exchange rate, it stemmed from reduced losses related to foreign currency as the pace of appreciation narrowed."
Selling and administrative expenses were 5.3081 trillion won, up 933.2 billion won (21.3%) from the previous quarter.
As of the end of June, securities companies' total assets were 1,256.1 trillion won, up 157.7 trillion won (14.4%) from the end of March. Liabilities were 1,140.9 trillion won, up 149.4 trillion won (15.1%) over the same period, while capital was 115.1 trillion won, up 8.2 trillion won (7.7%).
The average net capital ratio of securities firms was 1,140.5%, up 140.1 percentage points over the same period. All securities companies exceeded the financial authorities' regulatory ratio of 100%.