BNK Financial Group "Improving Common Equity Tier 1 Ratio to Over 12% This Year" ... Holds 13th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders

Improving Capital Ratio, Laying Foundation for Expanding Shareholder Return Policy

Strengthening Solid Management through Balanced Growth and Profit Improvement

On the morning of March 22, BNK Financial Group held the 13th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders at the Busan Bank headquarters in Munhyeon-dong, Nam-gu, Busan, where it approved the 2023 financial statements and resolved to pay cash dividends.

On the morning of March 22, BNK Financial Group held the 13th regular shareholders' meeting at the Busan Bank headquarters in Munhyeon-dong, Nam-gu, Busan, where they approved the 2023 financial statements and resolved to pay cash dividends.

BNK Financial Group reported a net income attributable to controlling interests of 639.8 billion KRW, a decrease of 145.2 billion KRW compared to the previous year, due to proactive provisioning for potential loan losses and a one-time increase in costs related to win-win finance support. The dividend per share was decided at 510 KRW, including an interim dividend of 100 KRW.

Additionally, through an amendment to the articles of incorporation, the ‘Subsidiary CEO Candidate Recommendation Committee,’ which had been operating as an ad hoc committee, was officially established as a standing committee. Among the three outside directors whose terms expired, Outside Director Choi Kyung-soo was reappointed for a one-year term, while Outside Directors Park Woo-shin and Kim Soo-hee retired. Newly appointed outside directors include Oh Myung-sook, Kim Nam-geol, and Seo Soo-duk, each granted a two-year term.

BNK Financial Group Chairman Bin Dae-in stated, “Last year marked our first steps toward enhancing shareholder value, including the cancellation of treasury shares and the payment of an interim dividend. Despite achieving a common equity tier 1 capital ratio of 11.69%, an improvement of 0.54 percentage points from the previous year, we regret that we were unable to deliver satisfactory performance, which limited our ability to return value to shareholders.”

He emphasized, “This year, we will improve profitability through balanced asset growth, interest margin enhancement, and systematic management of asset quality and costs. We will pursue changes to our asset portfolio that leverage BNK’s strengths through efficient capital allocation and risk-weighted assets (RWA) management.” He added, “We plan to improve the common equity tier 1 capital ratio to over 12% within the year and strengthen shareholder return policies by increasing dividends per share and actively pursuing treasury stock repurchases.”