JB Financial Group posts record W595.7b in nine-month net profit

JB Financial Group posted a cumulative net profit of 595.7 billion won ($450 million) through the third quarter of this year, setting an all-time record.

JB Financial Group said Tuesday that net profit attributable to controlling shareholders reached 210 billion won for the third quarter alone and 595.7 billion won on a cumulative basis, up 0.8 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively, from the same period a year earlier. Both figures represent all-time highs on a quarterly and cumulative basis.

Key profitability indicators for the third quarter included a return on equity of 13.3 percent and a consolidated return on assets of 1.08 percent. The cost-to-income ratio stood at 35.8 percent, while the preliminary common equity tier 1 ratio came in at 12.39 percent.

JB Financial said it has been improving asset efficiency by increasing the share of businesses with higher returns relative to risk-weighted assets. Through the third quarter, the group's risk-weighted asset growth rate was held at 5.1 percent, well below the 10.0 percent growth rate in won-denominated loans.

The strategy is to manage both profitability and capital efficiency by keeping risk-weighted asset growth slower than loan portfolio expansion.

Among subsidiaries, Jeonbuk Bank recorded a net profit of 72.5 billion won, Gwangju Bank posted 82.4 billion won, and JB Woori Capital earned 66.3 billion won. JB Asset Management and JB Investment reported 6.6 billion won and 2.8 billion won, respectively, while PPCBank in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, contributed 14.3 billion won.

The board of JB Financial Group declared a quarterly cash dividend of 317 won per common share as part of its shareholder return policy.

"We will continue to strengthen profitability on the back of a stable capital ratio while steadily expanding our shareholder return policy to enhance corporate value," a JB Financial official said.