KB与Shinhan二季度净利创季度新高并各拟追加7000亿韩元回购注销

KB Financial Group and Shinhan Financial Group posted a combined net profit of about 3.8 trillion won in the second quarter, each setting new record highs on a quarterly basis. A stock market rally sharply boosted earnings at their securities affiliates, while non-interest income and global operations continued to grow. However, analysts say managing delinquencies in the second half will be a key variable for future results as a period of rising interest rates begins.
KB Financial Group and Shinhan Financial reported second-quarter net profits of 1.9922 trillion won and 1.8201 trillion won, respectively. The combined net profit of the two companies was 3.8123 trillion won. Both figures were record highs on a quarterly basis.
KB Financial's profit rose 14.6% from a year earlier and 5.3% from the previous quarter. Shinhan Financial's increased 17.5% and 12.2%, respectively. Cumulative first-half net profit was 3.8846 trillion won for KB Financial and 3.4427 trillion won for Shinhan Financial, up 13.1% and 13.3% from a year earlier, respectively.
The improvement in non-interest income driven by the stock market boom led the strong results. KB Financial's second-quarter non-interest income was 1.9783 trillion won, up 38.2% from a year earlier. Net fee income surged 55.2% to 1.6019 trillion won. This reflected an increase in securities fee income from active stock market trading, along with expanded fee income in asset management and bank wealth management (WM).
Shinhan Financial also saw its second-quarter non-interest income rise 14.6% from a year earlier to 1.4499 trillion won, while total first-half non-interest income grew 19.7% to 2.6381 trillion won. Of that, fee income was 1.1889 trillion won.
Increased earnings from overseas operations, supported by balanced growth at major overseas bases such as Japan and Vietnam, also contributed to the results. Shinhan Financial's second-quarter overseas earnings were 250.7 billion won, up 13% from the previous quarter, and reached 472.5 billion won in the first half, up 9.5% from a year earlier.
By affiliate, the advance of the securities firms was notable. KB Securities' second-quarter net profit surged 182.1% from 159 billion won last year to 448.5 billion won this year, leading the improvement in non-banking results. Shinhan Investment Securities' second-quarter net profit also rose 91.6% to 289.3 billion won from 151 billion won a year earlier. Thanks to this, the contribution of non-banking net profit on a first-half basis rose to 44% for KB Financial and 35% for Shinhan Financial.
For interest income, KB Financial recorded 3.1435 trillion won in the second quarter, up 1.2% from a year earlier. It fell 5.7% from the first quarter of this year. Shinhan Financial's second-quarter interest income rose 9.4% from a year earlier to 3.1344 trillion won. KB Kookmin Bank posted a second-quarter net profit of 1.1244 trillion won, while Shinhan Bank recorded 1.3014 trillion won.
Along with the improved results, plans to expand shareholder returns were also announced. KB Financial plans to buy back and cancel an additional 700 billion won in treasury shares in the second half and projected total shareholder returns of 3.7 trillion won this year. Shinhan Financial presented total shareholder returns of more than 2.8 trillion won this year, acquiring and canceling an additional 700 billion won in treasury shares within the third quarter. As of the end of June, the common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio was 13.74% for KB Financial and 13.43% for Shinhan Financial.
The financial industry expects the second half, when the effects of interest rate hikes will be reflected with a time lag, to be the key. Earlier, the Bank of Korea raised its base rate this month from 2.50% to 2.75% and left the door open for further hikes.
The problem is the rising delinquency rate. According to the Financial Supervisory Service, the won-denominated loan delinquency rate at domestic banks stood at 0.67% at the end of May, the highest in nine years and seven months, while the delinquency rate for small and medium-sized enterprise loans rose to 1.00%. If the repayment burden on small businesses and the self-employed grows due to higher lending rates following the base rate hike, new delinquencies and non-performing loans could increase, potentially expanding financial holding companies' provisioning burden again.
Currently, the NPL ratio of the two groups, referring to non-performing loans overdue for more than three months, fell from the first quarter but has not returned to the level of the end of last year. KB Financial rose from 0.63% at the end of last year to 0.73% at the end of March, then fell to 0.67% at the end of June. Shinhan Financial also rose from 0.72% to 0.81% over the same period before falling to 0.79%. An official in the financial industry said, "The key is to preemptively secure provisions and capital buffers."