The securities industry recorded worse-than-expected earnings during the October-December 2012 period amid a sharp drop in stock brokerage fees collected in the ongoing economic slowdown.

Further, some major brokerage firms saw their performance fall into “deficit,” industry and Financial Supervisory Service data showed Thursday.

Among them are Hyundai Securities, Daishin Securities and IBK Investment & Securities.

Hyundai Securities, a subsidiary of Hyundai Group, is noted as one of the nation’s five leading brokerage firms, and Daishin Securities is included on the list of the 10 biggest firms.

IBK Investment, as an affiliate of the state-controlled Industrial Bank of Korea, had also typically shown stable growth.

The three firms, however, suffered net losses during the period, the third quarter of fiscal year 2012, due mainly to relatively bearish stock market conditions.

Hyundai Securities reported a net loss of 67.2 billion won ($62.2 million). Daishin Securities and IBK Investment posted 10.2 billion won and 4.9 billion won in net losses, respectively.

A Hyundai Securities spokesman attributed its deficit to reduced earnings in stock trading service fees, saying that “trading volume dropped sharply.”

Over the same period of the 2011 fiscal year, the three brokerage houses posted robust earnings in their operating performance.

Other major firms also saw their earnings plunge during the October-December period.

Samsung Securities, a financial unit of Samsung Group, reported a net profit of 17 billion won, down 73.7 percent from three months earlier.

Woori Investment & Securities, a subsidiary of Woori Financial Group, and Daewoo Securities of the state-run KDB Financial Group suffered a drop by 95.5 percent and 48.6 percent in earnings, respectively.

FSS data showed that the collective net income of 62 local and foreign securities firms operating in Korea came to 113.1 billion won in the same period, down 77.8 percent from a year earlier.

Their combined brokerage income reached 888.7 billion won in the third quarter, dipping 33.8 percent on-year.

The industry also logged a 21 percent loss in bond-related profits for a combined 108.5 billion won, as yields on government bonds gained.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)