Meritz Financial Group posted a first-half net profit of 1.47 trillion won ($1.06 billion) on a consolidated basis, up 8.3% from a year earlier, the company said on the 12th. The figure marks a record high for any first half. Second-quarter net profit came to 791.4 billion won, a 7.3% increase from the same period a year earlier.
First-half revenue reached 35.58 trillion won and operating profit came to 1.82 trillion won, up 102.4% and 9.0%, respectively, from a year earlier. Total assets stood at 148.55 trillion won, up 9.7% from the end of last year, while return on equity (ROE) reached 26.8%.
Meritz Financial attributed the results to stronger core competitiveness — including growth in new long-term protection insurance contracts at Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance and expansion of the retail business at Meritz Securities — along with solid asset management performance across its affiliates.
Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance recorded a net profit of 1.02 trillion won in the first half, up 3.8% from the same period a year earlier. Second-quarter net profit came to 558.3 billion won, a 6.4% increase year-on-year.
Insurance income fell 3.7% year-on-year to 697.5 billion won, while investment income rose 16.3% to 703.1 billion won. The investment return on asset management, in particular, rose 0.6 percentage points from the end of the first quarter to 6.0%, boosting profitability. The preliminary Korean Insurance Capital Standard (K-ICS) ratio stood at 231%, maintaining sound financial health.
An official at Meritz Fire & Marine said the results reflected revenue growth in long-term protection insurance and general insurance, a turn to profit in auto insurance, and solid investment income.
Meritz Securities posted a first-half net profit of 514.0 billion won, up 15.9% year-on-year. An official at Meritz Securities said the firm was maintaining stable growth on the back of steady earnings growth in its retail business and firm results in its asset management and financial income divisions, even amid heightened financial market volatility.
