Samsung Securities posted solid results for the first quarter of this year, driven by growth in its wealth management (WM) business.

Samsung Securities said on May 11 that its first-quarter operating profit on a consolidated basis rose to 609.5 billion won, up 84.4 percent from the previous quarter and 82.1 percent from a year earlier.

Pretax profit for the period rose to 615.5 billion won, up 107.2 percent from the previous quarter and 83.5 percent from a year earlier. Net profit rose to 450.9 billion won, up 109.7 percent from the previous quarter and 81.5 percent from a year earlier.

Samsung Securities said growth in its wealth management-based business drove the improvement in results. Net inflows of retail client assets on a standalone basis totalled 19.7 trillion won in the first quarter. Total client assets reached 495.6 trillion won.

Income from the sale of financial products also rose. Fund sales income was 34.4 billion won, up 96.0 percent from the previous quarter. Pension balances rose 11.7 percent from the previous quarter to 34.5 trillion won, extending growth in the wealth management business.

The head office sales division posted stable results, centred on structured finance. Investment banking (IB) performance was 71.8 billion won, up 10.0 percent from the previous quarter. Structured finance performance within that total came to 63.4 billion won.

Samsung Securities said it completed deals in the first quarter including K-Bank's initial public offering (IPO), acquisition financing for Hwasung Cosmetics, and a tender offer deal for Nowcos.

A Samsung Securities official said, "We recorded solid results while continuing growth in our wealth management-based business."