SC First Bank Reports Q1 Net Profit of 111.9 Billion Won, Up 174.3% Year-on-Year

SC First Bank announced on May 15 that its net profit for the first quarter of this year reached 111.9 billion won. This represents an increase of 71.1 billion won (174.3%) compared to the same period last year (40.8 billion won). The significant increase is mainly due to a base effect from the previous year's first quarter, when the estimated compensation for Hong Kong H Index ELS products (132.9 billion won) was recognized as a one-off non-operating expense.

Regarding net interest income, despite an increase in the volume of customer loans, it decreased by 14.3 billion won (4.5%) year-on-year to 307.3 billion won, due to a decline in net interest margin (NIM) caused by falling market interest rates. Non-interest income fell by 11.0 billion won (11.1%) year-on-year to 88.0 billion won, as both sales commissions in the wealth management sector and profits from foreign exchange and derivatives declined.

Yonhap News

Operating expenses decreased by 2.2 billion won (1.0%) year-on-year to 226.0 billion won. Provisions for loan losses increased by 17.7 billion won (118.0%) year-on-year to 32.7 billion won, mainly due to additional provisioning related to the T-Mon and Wemakeprice (Timon·Wemakeprice) incident.

As of the end of March this year, total assets stood at 9.33182 trillion won, an increase of 747.73 billion won compared to the end of December last year (8.58409 trillion won). This was mainly due to an increase in mortgage loans and foreign exchange derivative assets. Return on assets (ROA) rose by 0.32 percentage points year-on-year to 0.51%, and return on equity (ROE) increased by 5.14 percentage points year-on-year to 8.23%. The loan loss provision coverage ratio increased by 6.34 percentage points year-on-year to 211.24%, while the ratio of substandard or below loans decreased by 0.02 percentage points year-on-year to 0.41%. Through continuous and proactive risk management, the bank has maintained solid asset quality while actively responding to challenging economic conditions.

The BIS total capital adequacy ratio (CAR) and BIS common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio stood at 19.08% and 15.90%, respectively, continuing to exceed regulatory requirements and ensuring strong loss absorption capacity and capital soundness.