Yoon Ho-young, CEO of Kakao Bank, "Considering Share Buyback and Cancellation... Prioritizing Stock Price Management"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] On the 7th, when Kakao Group's stock price plummeted, Yoon Ho-young, CEO of KakaoBank, announced that he would consider shareholder return policies such as share buybacks and cancellations.

CEO Yoon released a message in his name on the same day, stating, "At this point, it is difficult to specify the exact scale and timing due to disclosure regulations, but once the shareholders' meeting approval for the 2022 financial statements is completed, we will actively consider implementing shareholder return policies such as share buybacks and cancellations within the legally permitted scope."

He also expressed his apology, saying, "I sincerely apologize to our shareholders for the recent stock price decline."

On that day, KakaoBank's stock price closed at 18,350 KRW, down 9.38% from the previous day. This was the first time since its listing on August 6 last year that the stock closed below 20,000 KRW, marking an all-time low.

CEO Yoon added, "We will make stock price management the top priority for the management team, including the CEO, by increasing the weight of stock price-based evaluation in the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the management team."

Furthermore, he mentioned that after the third-quarter earnings announcement scheduled for early next month, the management team, including the CEO, will directly meet with domestic institutional investors to explain KakaoBank's performance.

He also elaborated that he would actively explain future growth plans by meeting with overseas institutional investors as soon as possible. Emphasizing that "KakaoBank's performance remains solid," he highlighted plans to launch individual business banking services by the end of this month, expanding services to corporate banking as well.