Brokerages' H1 earnings more than double

SEOUL, Nov. 19 (Yonhap) -- Securities companies in South Korea saw their earnings
more than double in the first half of fiscal 2009 on the back of a stock market
rally, the financial watchdog said Thursday.
The combined net income of 61 local and foreign brokerages stood at 1.9 trillion
won (US$1.6 billion) in the April-September period, up 113.3 percent from 871.3
billion won a year earlier, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said.
The fiscal year of brokerages operating in South Korea starts in April.
The strong first-half result came as the bullish stock market boosted their
commission income and the value of their stock holdings, the FSS said in a
statement.
Bolstered by hopes for an economic recovery and investors' growing risk
appetites, the nation's key stock index KOSPI has advanced 41 percent so far this
year.
According to the watchdog, the brokerages' assets totaled 190.2 trillion won as
of the end of September, up 26 percent from a year earlier.
Daewoo Securities Co. posted the highest net income of 187 billion won, trailed
by Korea Investment & Securities Co. with 139.4 billion won, the FSS said.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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