[Exclusive] iM Financial Chairman Hwang Byungwoo to Attend U.S. IR Events Again This Year

Active Shareholder Communication Since Taking Office
Visited Singapore and Hong Kong Last October, in Addition to the U.S. in June Last Year
"Personally Taking Action to Overcome Undervaluation"
Most Undervalued Among Bank Stocks
Share Price Rally Expected to Gain Further Momentum

Hwang Byungwoo, Chairman of iM Financial Group, will attend a corporate investor relations (IR) event in the United States this year, following his participation last year, to communicate directly with shareholders. He plans to explain the company’s management strategy to investors and aims to boost the undervalued share price.

According to the financial industry on May 13, Chairman Hwang will visit major U.S. cities?Boston, New York, and Chicago?for five days from May 19 to 23 to attend IR events targeting overseas institutional investors. He is scheduled to personally address key topics of interest, including recent business performance.

This will be Chairman Hwang’s second trip to the United States for IR since June last year. The United States was the first overseas IR destination he chose after taking office. At that time, he took the lead in transforming iM Bank (formerly Daegu Bank) into a commercial bank and communicated directly about future strategies and core growth plans. In October, he also visited Singapore and Hong Kong to engage directly with major investors.

Chairman Hwang’s direct participation in IR events is aimed at building shareholder trust through direct communication with overseas investors and boosting the undervalued share price. iM Financial Group’s stock is considered one of the most undervalued among low PBR (price-to-book ratio) stocks. PBR is calculated by dividing market capitalization by equity (net assets), indicating how many times the stock is trading per share relative to the company’s net assets. A PBR below 1 means the market values the company below its net asset value. iM Financial Group’s PBR is 0.29, the lowest among listed financial holding companies. KB Financial Group and JB Financial Group have the highest PBRs among bank stocks at 0.6. They are followed by Shinhan (0.46), Hana (0.43), Woori (0.39), and BNK (0.31).

To enhance corporate value, there is also a need to increase the low foreign ownership ratio. Over the past year, iM Financial Group’s foreign ownership has remained between 41% and 45%. Most other financial holding companies with commercial banks have higher foreign ownership ratios, which affects their share prices. KB Financial Group’s foreign ownership is about 75%, Shinhan’s is 57%, Hana’s is 66%, and Woori Financial Group’s is similar to iM Financial Group at 45%. As of the closing price on May 12, the share prices of the three companies excluding Woori Financial Group were 92,200 won, 51,700 won, and 64,900 won, respectively. In contrast, Woori Financial Group’s share price was 17,850 won, and iM Financial Group’s was 10,500 won.

This trip to the United States by Chairman Hwang is expected to further boost the rising share price. Following the announcement of first-quarter results this year, iM Financial Group’s share price rose sharply. On April 28, iM Financial Group announced a net profit of 154.3 billion won for the first quarter of this year, an increase of 38.1% compared to the same period last year. With the resolution of the real estate project financing (PF) risk that had been a drag on performance, analysts expect that the company will end its three-year earnings decline and return to normalized results. As a result, the closing share price surpassed the 10,000 won mark for the first time in three years and reached 10,500 won on May 12, approaching the four-year high of 10,550 won set on October 28, 2021. Choi Jungwook, a researcher at Hana Securities, said, "Considering the improved performance, the total shareholder return ratio is likely to exceed market expectations, and given this, the current PBR is significantly undervalued compared to other banks. The latest earnings announcement is expected to further highlight the stock’s price attractiveness."