Securities firms' H1 net sinks 66 pct

SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) -- Total earnings of securities firms in South Korea
tumbled 66.1 percent in the first half of fiscal 2008 as commission income
declined amid slumping stock markets, the financial watchdog said Sunday.
The combined net profit of 62 local securities firms and foreign branches reached
871.3 billion won (US$579.3 million) in the April-September period, compared with
2.57 trillion won a year earlier, the Financial Supervisory Service said in a
report.
"Commission income declined 32.4 percent on-year to 2.4 trillion won as stock
trading remained sluggish," the watchdog said. South Korea's share prices fell
more than 15 percent mainly due to heavy foreign selling in the April-September
period.
The combined assets reached 150.9 trillion won as of the end of September, up
16.7 percent from a year earlier, the watchdog said.
Currently, 62 brokerage companies operate in South Korea, including 21 foreign
firms. They close their books on March 31.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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