Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
JB Financial Group achieves record-high Q1 net profit
JB Financial Group's building located in Yeouido, Seoul / Courtesy of JB Financial Group
By Anna J. Park
By Anna J. Park
JB Financial Group saw its first-quarter net profit surge 37.1 percent year-on-year to 132.3 billion won ($119 million). It was the highest-ever net profit achieved by the financial group in the first three months of any year.
Compared to the previous three months, first-quarter net profit was up 89.4 percent.
Return on equity (ROE), the financial performance measure that represents profitability, stood at 14 percent, while the group's return on assets (ROA) stood at 1.03 percent, both of which are considered high for a financial institution.
“The group's asset portfolios improved focus on profitability, while external market conditions and interest rates have been favorable,” Kim Ki-hong, CEO and chairman of JB Financial Group, said during a conference call.
“The group achieved record-high Q1 results as both costs and profits improved.”
Earnings from interest rose 10.1 percent during the first quarter, compared to the same period last year. JB Financial's net interest margin (NIM) also increased to 2.73 percent. NIM compares net interest income from loans, mortgages and other credit products with outgoing interest payments to holders of savings and other accounts.
Non-interest income also increased 19 percent to 26.1 billion won. Despite a slight fall in earnings from commission fees from 19.1 billion won a year ago to 14.6 billion won in the first quarter, securities-related earnings skyrocketed 84.2 percent to 17.1 billion won this year.
Jeonbuk Bank's Q1 net profit jumped 28.8 percent year-on-year to 38.1 billion won, while Kwangju Bank saw net profit rise 11.6 percent over the same period to 52.1 billion won.
Among the group's non-bank subsidiaries, JB Woori Capital contributed the most to the group's record-high first-quarter performance by achieving a 75.3 percent rise in first-quarter net profit to 45.2 billion won.
“Uncertainties in the local financial market remain, as it is still uncertain how the pandemic situation will pan out. The financial group will do its best in managing risks to achieve targeted net profits during the rest of the year, while strengthening its shareholder return policy,” Chairman Kim added.