Hana Financial chair reiterates commitment to Corporate Value-up Program in 2025
Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo speaks during a recent interview at the group's headquarters in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of Hana Financial Group
Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo said Wednesday that the group will continue to uphold its Corporate Value-up commitment, first unveiled in October, as he begins his second term.
This is the first time the leader of the country’s top financial holding firm gave a full interview discussing corporate strategies.
Ham said the group’s shares rose 30 percent last year, marking the highest annual growth in the past three years. This, in turn, boosted shareholder returns to 38 percent in 2024, up from 26 percent in 2021.
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The chairman said Hana financial groups’ price-to-book ratio will be raised to over 1. The ratio is a measure of a company's value calculated from its book value per share relative to the current stock price per share.
“Many financial group shares are undervalued, as indicated by a below -1. Hana will be at the forefront to lift the figure to over 1," Ham said.
The group will also strengthen the shareholder return rate to 50 percent by 2027, he added.
Underpinning the optimism is a Feb. 4 announcement on share buybacks for cancellation of 400 billion won ($277 million). This together with 1 trillion won in cash dividends will bolster investor confidence in the group, he said.
Sustainable revenue models and strategic capital policies are the two pillars of corporate management, according to the chair.
“The key to the Value-up initiative is solidifying strong profit generation, anchored in maximizing the use of limited capital,” Ham said.
He noted that the group’s nonbanking affiliates will account for 30 percent of its revenue this year, reflecting a close and coordinated business integration.
The group’s common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio will be raised to a range of between 13 and 13.5 percent, underpinned by risk-weighted asset growth limited to lower than the country’s nominal GDP growth.