Securities companies in South Korea posted a sharp increase in their net profit in the second quarter, thanks to a rise in their proprietary trading income, preliminary data showed Friday.

The combined net profit of 60 domestic securities firms came to 1.77 trillion won (US$1.32 billion) in the April-June period, up 69.1 percent from the same period last year, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

Their net income from commission fees slipped 0.9 percent on-year to some 3.22 trillion won, while their combined income from their own investment or stock trading spiked over 50 percent to 2.97 trillion won from 1.97 trillion won over the cited period.

The securities companies’ return of equity (ROE) stood at 2 percent as of end-June, down 0.9 percentage point from three months earlier.

Source: Yonhap News Agency