Since Larry Klane was appointed to CEO last March, he has successfully performed the double missions of improving the bank’s profitability as well as burnishing its public image.

Both missions are important to raise the value of the company, which will be in turn interpreted to high sale price when Lone Star sells its shares.

So far, his efforts have paid off well. The bank has seen a steady growth in the net profit since the first quarter of 2009, even after deducting one-time profits from sale of shares at Hyundai Engineering & Construction and tax refund from 2004 merger with KEB Credit Service.

Klane can also claim a success in the bank’s PR campaigns. Koreans are patriotic people with high pride in its history, so in terms of corporate image, it was wise to have pictures of him tasting Kimchi published on newspapers, and praising the nutritious, fermented vegetable salad as a product of “the wisdom of Koreans’ ancestors.”

Recognitions followed. Last November, he won a medal of honor from the government for providing easy banking services for expats in Korea. And earlier this month, he was invited as one of two non-Korean panel speakers to a forum of top government and finance industry officials in Seoul, together with John Walker, chairman of Macquarie Korea.

What’s past is past, and Klane sees that this year won’t be easier than 2009. But at the same time he is confident to continue sustainable, if not spectacular, growth this year.

“We expect that competition with our peers will further intensify this year, and surviving the competition is the key to becoming the ‘best’ bank,” he told in an e-mail reply to the Korea Times.

cjs@koreatimes.co.kr