SC Jeil Bank's Record-Breaking Performance... Last Year's Net Profit Hits 314.4 Billion Won

Net Profit Surges 42.0% Compared to Previous Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Kim] SC First Bank announced on the 30th that it recorded a consolidated net income of 314.4 billion KRW in 2019. This represents an increase of 93 billion KRW (42.0%) compared to the previous year (221.4 billion KRW).

Last year, operating profit was 364.9 billion KRW, up 71.6 billion KRW (24.4%) from the previous year (293.3 billion KRW).

According to the bank, although the wealth management (WM) sector struggled somewhat due to a weak stock market, overall revenue increased compared to the previous year thanks to a continuous rise in interest income, increased earnings in the financial markets division, one-time gains from the sale of equity in managed companies, and strong corporate finance business performance.

The bank stated, "Regarding expenses, despite thorough cost management and efforts to improve productivity, costs slightly increased compared to the previous year due to typical rises in labor costs and the implementation of special year-end retirements."

The bank showed a favorable level of profitability. Return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) rose by 0.12 percentage points and 2.32 percentage points respectively from the previous year, reaching 0.46% and 6.91%.

The ratio of non-performing loans and delinquency rate improved by 0.04 percentage points and 0.02 percentage points respectively from the end of the previous year, recording 0.42% and 0.25%. The company explained that asset portfolio soundness continues to improve thanks to proactive risk management.

Asset quality was also strong. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) capital adequacy ratio and Tier 1 capital ratio were recorded at 16.89% and 14.78%, respectively, significantly exceeding regulatory requirements. The bank explained, "This is the result of efficiency and diversification measures in the capital structure, harmonizing core and supplementary capital through the issuance of amortizing subordinated bonds (600 billion KRW) in January last year and a one-time interim dividend (500 billion KRW)."

Total assets reached 67.8628 trillion KRW, an increase of 2.848 trillion KRW (4.4%) from the end of the previous year (65.0148 trillion KRW).

Last year's final dividend was decided at 155 billion KRW through a board resolution on the 13th and approval at the annual general meeting of shareholders held on the same day. A bank official stated that this decision considered routine management factors such as last year's operating performance, accumulated retained earnings, BIS capital adequacy ratio, domestic and international guidelines, as well as improvements in ROE and capital efficiency.