[Digital Today reporter Sangyeop Oh] Mirae Asset Securities recorded a net loss of 405.6 billion won in the third quarter this year due to factors including valuation losses on investment assets. It will cancel 65 million treasury shares it holds after next year’s annual general meeting.

Mirae Asset Securities said on Nov. 12 it posted a consolidated pretax loss of 520.6 billion won and a net loss of 405.6 billion won for the third quarter this year.

With market trading activity slowing, results declined from the previous quarter as valuation losses on investment assets were reflected. Still, recurring profit excluding third-quarter principal investment (PI) losses came to about 380 billion won.

Cumulative consolidated pretax profit through the third quarter this year was 3.3657 trillion won and net profit was 2.5016 trillion won, up 156 percent and 148 percent, respectively, from the same period a year earlier.

Cumulative pretax profit from overseas units was 713 billion won, up 138 percent from a year earlier, marking a record high for cumulative results through the third quarter. Annualised return on equity (ROE) based on net profit was 24 percent, up 13 percentage points from the same period a year earlier.

Mirae Asset Securities also announced a new shareholder return policy to be applied from 2027 to 2029 on the day.

It plans to cancel 65 million shares, about 60 percent of the 108,338,501 common treasury shares it currently holds, after completing related systems and procedures, shortly after next year’s annual general meeting.

The cancellation is worth about 1.4 trillion won based on the closing price on Nov. 11. It will review ways to either cancel the remaining treasury shares or use them as a source for shareholder returns.

It will also maintain its existing policy of returning at least 35 percent of adjusted consolidated net income to shareholders through dividends and treasury share purchases.

To increase predictability of shareholder returns, Mirae Asset Securities has operated a three-year shareholder return policy since 2018. Since 2021, it has returned more than 2.2 trillion won to shareholders through dividends and treasury share cancellations, and the shareholder return ratio over the past two years has been about 40 percent.

A Mirae Asset Securities official said, "Based on know-how and experience in overseas expansion, we will be able to deliver results in advanced markets as well," and added, "We will actively use profits generated overseas as a source for shareholder returns by repatriating them to South Korea through dividends."