KB secures highest rating from Moody's

The headquarters of Prudential Life Insurance Company of Korea in Seoul / Korea Times file

By Lee Kyung-min

• Published May 11, 2020 7:30 PM KST
• Updated May 11, 2020 8:09 PM KST

By Lee Kyung-min

Moody's Investors Service has affirmed the A1 long-term foreign currency issuer rating with a stable outlook and Prime-1 short-term foreign currency issuer rating for KB Financial Group.

KB Financial entered into a purchase and sale agreement April 10 to wholly acquire Prudential Life Insurance Company of Korea from Prudential Financial for 2.3 trillion ($1.9 billion).

Prudential Life Korea, established in 1989, was the 11th-largest life insurer in Korea by asset size as of December 2019.

The affirmation of KB Financial's A1 issuer rating incorporates the acquisition's impact on the group's leverage and on Prudential Life's credit metrics, as well as the diversification benefit the acquisition brings to the group.

Specifically, Moody's expects KB Financial's double leverage ratio ― investments in subsidiaries divided by shareholder's equity ― will rise to about 129 percent after the acquisition.

While this ratio is high, Moody's capital and dividend flow analysis suggests KB will maintain sufficient financial flexibility in servicing its interest burden without a significant increase in dividend pressure on its key subsidiaries, namely KB Kookmin Bank (Aa3 stable, a3), KB Kookmin Card (A2 stable) and KB Securities (A3 review for downgrade).

Moody's expects KB Financial's common equity tier 1 ratio to remain above 13 percent following the acquisition.