In the first half of this year, South Korea's financial holding companies reported a net profit of 17.6 trillion won, marking a more than 13% increase compared to the same period last year. The significant growth in profits was driven by a robust stock market, which boosted earnings in the financial investment sector by over 70%.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's report on the management performance of financial holding companies for the first half of 2026, the combined net profit of 10 domestic financial holding companies reached 17.6 trillion won, up 2.2 trillion won (13.7%) from 15.4 trillion won in the same period last year. As of the end of June, total assets stood at 439.1 trillion won, an increase of 32.36 trillion won (8.0%) from the end of last year.
The growth in the financial investment sector was particularly notable. The net profit for the financial investment sector alone was 5.1 trillion won, a 72.8% increase from the previous year. This sector accounted for 24.9% of total profits, an increase of 8.3 percentage points from a year earlier. In contrast, net profit in the banking sector fell by 7.9% to 9.6 trillion won. The Financial Supervisory Service attributed this performance to gains in securities, commissions, and foreign exchange profits driven by favorable market conditions and fluctuations in exchange rates and interest rates.
Assets also saw significant growth, particularly in the financial investment sector. Financial investment assets rose by 27.0% to 637.8 trillion won compared to the end of last year, while the growth rate for bank assets was 6.1%. Consequently, the proportion of financial investment in total assets increased by 2.2 percentage points to 14.5%.
However, indicators of asset soundness showed some deterioration. The ratio of non-performing loans for financial holding companies rose from 0.95% at the end of last year to 1.03%, an increase of 0.08 percentage points, while the loan loss reserve ratio fell from 106.8% to 96.5%, a decrease of 10.3 percentage points.
The Financial Supervisory Service noted that as the proportion of market-sensitive sectors like financial investment increases, there is a need to strengthen the management of subsidiary soundness and internal controls. It plans to assess potential risks related to changes in portfolios within financial holding companies and the expansion of high-risk assets, while encouraging the enhancement of loss absorption capacity.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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