Meritz Financial Group stock rises on strong first-half earnings

(Meritz Financial Group)

South Korea’s Meritz Financial Group Inc. saw its shares climb in early trading on Thursday after posting robust earnings in the first half of 2025.

The shares were trading at 122,400 won ($88.73) on the Korea Exchange as of 9:17 a.m. on Thursday, up 7.56 percent from the previous session.

the company announced earlier that its consolidated net profit for the first half of the year totaled 1.36 trillion won, a 2.3 percent increase from 1.33 trillion won in the same period a year ago and the highest figure ever for a half-year period.

Revenue and operating profit came in at 17.58 trillion won and 1.67 trillion won, down 26.1 percent and 5.9 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, pharmaceutical developer G2GBIO saw its stock surge 56 percent on the first day of trading on the country’s secondary Kosdaq market on early Thursday.

According to the Korea Exchange, the shares were trading at 96,900 won as of 9:19 a.m., up 67.07 percent from its initial offering price (IPO) of 58,000 won. They opened with a steep rise and continued to extend their gains.

G2GBIO owns InnoLAMP, a drug delivery technology that enables the long-term administration of medication to the human body and uses it to develop long-acting injectable drugs.

The company held a public subscription offering from August 5th to 6th, 2025, which recorded a competition ratio of 470.1 to 1, with the stock attracting 3.07 trillion won in deposits.

In other market news, Korean platform giant Naver Corp.’s shares also rose in early trading on Thursday after the news broke that Naver Webtoon’s parent company had formed a partnership with The Walt Disney Company.

Naver shares were trading at 230,500 won as of 9:09 a.m., up 2.44 percent from the previous session.

Naver Webtoon’s parent company, Webtoon Entertainment Inc., announced after the close of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday (local time) that it entered into a global content partnership with the U.S. mass media and entertainment conglomerate. Under the deal, popular titles from Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, and 20th Century Studios will be adapted into vertical-scroll webtoons.

Webtoon Entertainment shares, which are listed on the Nasdaq, soared 81.2 percent in the previous session following the announcement.

Naver’s stake in Webtoon Entertainment is currently around 62 percent.

Meritz Financial Group shares closed at 120,800 won, G2GBIO shares closed at 93,800 won, and Naver shares closed at 224,500 won.