Korean asset managers saw their net profit soar 51.8 percent in the first half of the year from a year earlier due to a rise in returns from stock investment, the financial watchdog said Thursday.

A total of 86 asset management companies posted a combined 212 billion won ($207.5 million) in net profit in the January-June period, compared with 139.7 billion won in the same period last year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.

The top 10 asset managers accounted for 67 percent of the total net profit, with 24 companies posting net losses over the six-month period.

The companies earned 10.9 billion won from securities investments, up 131.9 percent on-year from 4.7 billion won, the FSS noted.

Their commission income edged up 3.1 percent on-year to 752.1 billion won in the first half, while their operating profit jumped 24.9 percent to 278.8 billion won.

The return on equity, a key gauge of profitability, stood at 11.8 percent as of the end of June, up 3.7 percentage points from a year earlier.

Mirae Asset Management Co. topped other rivals in the first half with a net profit of 44.3 billion won, followed by KB Asset Management Co. with 26.3 billion won.

As of the end of June, their total assets under management reached 647 trillion won, up 2.9 percent from a year earlier, the FSS added. (Yonhap)