Woori Investment Securities posted growth in first-quarter results in 2026, supported by an expansion in non-interest income.

Woori Investment Securities said on April 24 its first-quarter net operating revenue came to 70.1 billion won, up 75.0 percent from a year earlier. Non-interest income, in particular, rose 173.3 percent to 41.4 billion won, leading overall revenue growth.

Its revenue structure also improved. In the first quarter of last year, the mix of interest income and non-interest income was about 6 to 4, but it reversed to 4 to 6 in a year. The company said a non-interest income-driven revenue structure is taking hold.

By business segment, investment banking (IB) and sales and trading (S&T) led the performance improvement. First-quarter fees related to IB came to 17.1 billion won, up 249 percent from a year earlier. Gains related to securities came to 24.3 billion won, up 151 percent.

Its retail business also expanded its customer base. Client custody assets stood at 20.3 trillion won at the end of the first quarter, up 62 percent from 12.6 trillion won at the end of the first quarter of last year.

Woori Investment Securities has continued to improve functions since launching its "WooriWON MTS" at the end of March last year. It is also expanding financial product and service areas, including embedding the MTS in the group’s universal banking app "WooriWON Banking" and advancing artificial intelligence (AI)-based services.

It is also strengthening its wealth management (WM) sales base. Woori Investment Securities expanded and relocated its Gangnam Financial Center in the second half of last year and began operating a combined branch with Woori Bank’s "TWO CHAIRS W Yeouido" at the Yeouido Financial Center early this year.

It also continued to manage its asset portfolio with a focus on high-quality assets. First-quarter credit loss expenses came to 8.7 billion won, down 15.6 percent from a year earlier.

Operating profit came to 16.6 billion won, surpassing last year’s full-year result in a single quarter. Net profit for the period rose sharply to 14.0 billion won.

Separately, Woori Investment Securities held a board meeting on the day and approved a 1 trillion won rights offering. The offering is to strengthen capital to meet the targets presented at its launch in August 2024 of becoming a comprehensive financial investment business by 2030 and achieving a return on equity (ROE) of 10 percent.

Once the capital increase is completed, Woori Investment Securities’ total capital will rise to 2.2 trillion won. That would place it around 11th in the industry by capital size. The company plans to use the additional capital to strengthen its ability to execute large deals and expand IB business such as underwriting and arranging.

A Woori Investment Securities official said, "We will use the capital increase as a stepping stone to expand our capabilities to execute large deals and boost competitiveness across all business segments, accelerating our push to become a comprehensive financial investment business."