00:03Kospi-listed companies just posted a 254% jump in first-half operating profit.
00:09Pause. Strip out Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, and the figure is still up 78%.
00:16Korea's largest asset manager nearly tripled its profit on the back of an ETF boom.
00:22And a builder that hadn't touched the public bond market in 11 years got three times the orders it asked
00:28for.
00:29It's Thursday, August 20th. Here's what investors are watching in Korea today.
00:34Korea's semiconductor cycle turned hard this year.
00:37ETF assets kept climbing while active fund flows stalled.
00:42Both trends showed up in the same set of half-year filings.
00:45Here's what the numbers show.
00:47634 December fiscal year companies on the main board reported a 254% increase in first-half operating profit, according
00:56to the Korea Exchange.
00:57Excluding Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, operating profit still rose 78%.
01:04Matter of fact, Mirai Asset Global Investments posted 906.3 billion won in first-half net profit, about $648 million,
01:14up 177.4% from a year earlier.
01:18Samsung Asset Management earned $129.4 billion, roughly $93 million, a gain of 150.7%.
01:29Lotta E&C drew $151.1 billion in orders, about $108 million, against a $50 billion public bond offering, its
01:39first in 11 years.
01:42Noon Partners was named preferred bidder for a minority stake in SGC Green Power, in a deal valued in the
01:49mid-$100 billion-1 range, or over $100 million.
01:53So, what does this mean for investors tracking the Korean market?
01:58Earlier, we said the 254% figure holds up without the two chip makers.
02:03Here's what that actually means for you.
02:05The earnings recovery is broader than the semiconductor headline suggests, and fee income from ETFs is now doing more for
02:13asset manager profits than active flows are.
02:15Three things to watch, second-half guidance from non-chip exporters, whether ETF net assets keep setting records into the
02:23fourth quarter, and whether other builders follow Lotta E&C back into the public bond market.
02:30That's today's AI Prism Securities Daily.
02:33This episode was produced with AI assistance based on Seoul Economic Daily reporting and reviewed by a human editor.
02:40AI Prism is a WANIFRA award-winning series. We'll be back tomorrow.
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