Download
Mirae Asset poised to reclaim brokerage crown
from Korea Investment & Securities
By Lee Yeon-woo, The Korea Times - Mirae
Asset Securities took the lead in the brokerage industry's earnings race in the
first half of the year, with net profit exceeding that of Korea Investment
& Securities by more than 1 trillion won ($706.5 million), according to
industry officials, Thursday.
If the lead holds through year-end,
Mirae Asset Securities will reclaim the industry's top spot in annual net
profit for the first time in four years, they said.
Mirae Asset Securities posted
consolidated net profit of 2.91 trillion won in the first half of this year, up
338 percent from a year earlier, while Korea Investment & Securities
recorded 1.73 trillion won, up 68.9 percent.
In 2025, Korea Investment &
Securities reported a net profit of 2.01 trillion won, 420 billion won more
than Mirae Asset Securities' 1.59 trillion won, making it the first brokerage
in Korea to surpass 2 trillion won in annual net profit.
The picture, however, changed
dramatically in the first half of this year. Mirae Asset Securities' first-half
net profit alone exceeded its full-year profit from last year and even
surpassed the net profits of four major commercial banks.
Valuation gains on its SpaceX investment
provided a major boost to earnings. First-half pretax profit jumped 349 percent
year on year to 3.89 trillion won, of which SpaceX valuation gains accounted
for 2.57 trillion won.
Mirae Asset Group invested $278 million
in SpaceX in 2022 and 2023.
But the outsized contribution from
SpaceX is a double-edged sword, according to analysts, leaving the brokerage’s
second-half earnings sensitive to swings in SpaceX's share price.
SpaceX's share price has recently fallen
to around $130, down roughly 20 percent from about $170 at the end of June.
Excluding the impact of exchange-rate movements, every $1 change in SpaceX's
share price translates into a roughly 29 billion won change in the valuation of
Mirae Asset's investment, according to SK Securities.
Korea Investment & Securities, by
contrast, has a relatively well-diversified earnings mix. Brokerage accounted
for 41.2 percent of the total, followed by trading at 27 percent, investment
banking at 16 percent and wealth management at 15.8 percent, the company said.
"Mirae Asset Securities' underlying
earnings power has improved significantly even without the contribution from
SpaceX," Mirae Asset Securities CEO and Vice Chairman Heo Sun-ho said,
adding that a revenue base in wealth management and pensions, an expanding
global business and stronger digital capabilities were improving.
In the second quarter, Mirae Asset
Securities pulled further ahead in the earnings race, with consolidated net
profit of 1.91 trillion won, more than double Korea Investment &
Securities' 946.4 billion won.
Mirae Asset Securities outperformed in
brokerage, posting net operating revenue of 625.6 billion won, nearly double
Korea Investment & Securities' 350 billion won. Korea Investment &
Securities, however, led in wealth management and investment banking, with
revenue of 191.2 billion won and 193.2 billion won, respectively, versus
Mirae's 131 billion won and 42.8 billion won.
