Korean Financial Holding Companies
It has been estimated that the net profits of the four major financial holding companies in Korea dropped by at least 30 percent last year. This is because of the necessity of more reserves than before, due to the ongoing restructuring on the part of big businesses amid the low-growth and low-interest trend.
According to financial information provider FnGuide, the net profits for the controlling interests of the Woori Financial Group, Hana Financial Holdings, KB Financial Group, and Shinhan Financial Group reached 4.98 trillion won (US$4.62 billion) last year, 31 percent down from the previous year’s 7.21 trillion won (US$6.69 billion).
Woori Financial Group profits fell from 1.5836 trillion won (US$1.4696 billion) to 590 billion won (US$546 million) due to the large amount of corporate lending. The amount is estimated to have decreased by 31.2 percent to approximately 1.1 trillion won (US$1.02 billion) for Hana and by 21.4 percent and 16.4 percent to 1.34 trillion won (US$1.24 billion) and 1.94 trillion won (US$1.80 billion) for KB and Shinhan, respectively.