[Click eStock] "KB Geumyung, Growth Momentum Expected to Continue This Year... Additional Shareholder Returns Anticipated"

Target Price Maintained at 113,000 KRW

Samsung Securities, Kiwoom Securities, and others forecast on the 6th that KB Financial Group will continue its steady growth based on stable performance this year and expectations for additional shareholder returns.

Kim Jae-woo, a researcher at Samsung Securities, said about KB Financial Group on the same day, “Stable earnings growth and gradual normalization of valuation due to increased shareholder return ratio are expected,” adding, “Despite recording a high stock price increase last year, it is still trading at an attractive level, and steady growth is expected this year with an annual profit growth rate of 8.9% and an earnings per share (EPS) growth rate of 13.3%.” The investment opinion was maintained as ‘Buy’ with a target price of 113,000 KRW.

KB Financial Group recorded a consolidated net profit of 5.08 trillion KRW last year, a record high with a 10.5% increase compared to the previous year. The net profit for the fourth quarter of last year was 682.9 billion KRW, up 161.2% year-on-year. The shareholder return ratio rose to 39.8% compared to the previous year. The proportion of non-bank earnings increased to 40%, higher than the previous year’s 35%, due to profit growth in major non-bank subsidiaries such as securities, non-life insurance, and credit cards.

Kim Eun-gap, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, also said, “This year, stable earnings improvement is expected due to the base effect of last year’s one-time costs, and additional shareholder returns can be expected with capital ratio improvement,” maintaining an investment opinion of ‘Buy’ and a target price of 126,000 KRW.

The shareholder return ratio is predicted to rise to the 40% range. Researcher Kim Jae-woo said, “Regarding shareholder returns, a buyback of treasury shares worth 520 billion KRW was announced in the first half of this year, and the annual dividend this year is expected to increase by 40 billion KRW to 1.24 trillion KRW compared to last year,” adding, “If the additional treasury share buyback in the second half amounts to about 670 billion KRW, the expected shareholder return ratio for this year could reach 44%.” Researcher Kim Eun-gap also said, “With capital ratio expected to rise from first-half earnings this year, the total amount of shareholder returns is expected to increase,” and “the shareholder return ratio is expected to exceed 42%.”