South Korean brokerage firms pocket jaw-dropping earnings in 2025

South Korea’s major brokerage houses racked up record earnings last year on the back of a bull run on the local stock market, industry data showed. The combined net profit of the country’s 27 securities firms is estimated at 10.23 trillion won ($7.03 billion) for 2025, sharply up from the previous year’s 6.97 trillion won, reports Yonhap news agency.

Korea Investment & Securities Co. posted the biggest net income of 2.01 trillion won last year, up 79 per cent from a year earlier, followed by Mirae Asset Securities Co. with 1.59 trillion won in net profit.

Kiwoom Investment & Securities Co. reported a net profit of 1.12 trillion won, while NH Investment & Securities Co. and Samsung Securities Co. posted a net profit of 1.03 trillion won and 1.01 trillion won, respectively.Their stellar performances were partly driven by commission fees from increased trading of local stocks by retail investors.