Hana Financial to buy back treasury stocks worth $270 mil.

Hana Financial Group headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of Hana Financial Group

Hana Financial Group decided to repurchase and retire treasury shares worth 400 billion won ($270.3 million) to enhance its corporate value amid record-high profits, it said Tuesday. This marks the largest share buyback and retirement since the group's founding.

The announcement came during its fourth-quarter earnings report. Hana posted a record-high net income of 3.7 trillion won, a 9.3 percent increase from the previous year.

The firm said the move reflects the strong commitment of its board and management to consistently advance the Corporate Value-up Program — an initiative led by the government to revitalize the "undervalued" Korean stock market by improving corporate governance and shareholder returns.

"The decision was made to reward shareholders for their trust and to achieve a total shareholder return ratio of 50 percent by 2027," a Hana official said.

The total cash dividend per common share for 2024 amounts to 3,600 won, marking a 5.9 percent increase from the previous year. The annual total shareholder return ratio rose to 37.8 percent, up 4.8 percentage points year-on-year.

The group's estimated common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio at the end of 2024 stands at 13.13 percent, remaining within the target range of 13 percent to 13.5 percent set for executing its enterprise value enhancement plan. CET1 indicates the core capital that banks hold as part of their capital structure.

"Despite last year's exchange rate fluctuations, Hana's company-wide efforts in managing risk-weighted assets and its profitability-driven asset growth strategy contributed to these results," the official added.