Trading income at Korea Investment & Securities (KIS) dipped over three-quarters (77.9%) to KRW99.1 billion (US$89.2m) in FY20 ended in December 2020 due to ‘massive ELS hedge trading loss’ at KRW114.5 billion in Q1.
This led to net operating revenue falling to KRW1.47 trillion, down 4% year-on-year (YoY). The South Korean investment bank's issuance volume of equity-linked securities (ELS) and derivative-linked securities (DLS) plunged by 62.7% to KRW3.48 trillion in 2020 YoY owing to ‘sluggish demand for ELS/DLS products and conservative risk management,’ according to the company’s FY20 earnings report. In contrast, the issuance of equity-linked bonds (ELB) and derivative-linked bon