Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
Hyundai Motor Securities enjoys earnings surprise in Q1
By Kim Bo-eun
By Kim Bo-eun
Hyundai Motor Securities enjoyed an earnings surprise in the first quarter of this year, despite difficult circumstances for brokerages amid the coronavirus pandemic, the firm said.
The brokerage reported an operating profit of 33.1 billion won, a 17.7 percent growth from the same period a year earlier. It is more than triple the figure of the previous quarter.
The securities firm posted a net profit of 24.6 billion won, up 20.7 percent from a year before. The net profit also saw over 300 percent growth quarter-on-quarter.
According to the brokerage, its retail and bond businesses drove the growth in earnings.
Profit from trading on consignment surged, based on the growth in trading as new investors joined the movement to buy stocks amid the coronavirus-triggered stock market plunge last month.
Hyundai Motor Securities said its retail division has remained strong, as it has maintained its offline branches and boosted mobile trading services. This compares to other brokerages, which have been scaling down their offline branches since 2016.
According to the brokerage, its retirement pension business has also grown, as the market grows with the baby boomer generation now retiring.
Its bond division saw growth as investors turned to the bond market amid volatilities in the stock market.
Hyundai Motor Securities' investment bank division also posted decent earnings, the brokerage said.
The securities firm said this was based on its efforts to diversify alternative investments. Net operating income of the investment bank division came down to 20 billion won in the first quarter, a 2.6 percent growth from the same period of 2019.
"It is encouraging that various divisions are growing despite the rapidly changing external environment," a Hyundai Motor Securities official said. "We will continue to make efforts to raise competitiveness of each division based on thorough risk management."