Credit Suisse Korea, the Korean operation of Switzerland-based financial company Credit Suisse, posted the largest net profit among foreign investment banks operating in Seoul last year for the third consecutive year after it arranged a number of mega-scale mergers and acquisition and high-profile initial public offerings.

According to the Korea Financial Investment Association Thursday, Credit Suisse Korea raked in 92 billion won ($81.2 million) in net profit last year, becoming the country’s top foreign IB by bottom line. Another big foreign IB J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s South Korean unit that came in second reported 64.3 billion won in net profit last year. Credit Suisse Korea has been earning the most among foreign brokerage houses in Korea since 2009, excepting 2013.

It was also the seventh largest by net income in the entire local securities industry. Given that there are 98 workers in Credit Suisse Korea, average net income gained by a single person in the office reached 939 million won.

Credit Suisse Korea’s biggest edge is in corporate finance, such as arranging mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The firm has topped the ranking in financial advisory segment in the M&A league table compiled and announced by Maeil Business Newspaper last July. In the January - June period last year, it earned 6.6 trillion won in service fees in mega deals such as state-run Korea Development Bank’s sell-off of KDB Daewoo Securities and Doosan Group’s divestiture of its machine tool operation and Doosan DST.

The company also successfully completed IPOs of Samsung Group’s biopharmaceutical business arm Samsung BioLogics and Doosan Infracore’s U.S.-based compact construction equipment maker Doosan Bobcat last year.

An official from Credit Suisse Korea credited the company’s chain success expertise by local team under the leadership of the Korea CEO Lee Chun-kee who has led the Korean operation for nearly two decades. The majority of executives in its corporate finance team have been working at the Seoul office for nearly 10 years.

Credit Suisse Korea also showed stellar performance in its traditional equity sales & trading, earning the biggest securities trading commission among foreign brokerage firms in Korea as it offers a wide array of alternative investments such as global funds and real estate properties based on its corporate performance and value assessment platform HOLT. The firm also plans to leverage its global network to provide investors with new investment choices and solutions.

By Han Woo-ram

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]