Hana nominates candidates for bank president

Finance

Published: 06 Feb. 2015, 21:21

Hana nominates candidates for bank president

Hana Financial Group, the country’s third-largest banking institution, has recommended three candidates for its vacant president position, the company said Friday.

The candidates are Kim Byoung-ho, vice president of Hana Bank who is also currently acting as the company’s CEO, Ham Young-joo, vice president of the bank’s Chungcheong operation and Hwang Jong-seop, vice president of the Gyeongsang operation.

The group’s executive candidate recommendation committee, comprising of four executives from the group including Chairman Kim Jung-tai, will select the successful candidate next week.

Hana Bank has been postponing the appointment of a new CEO since last November due to its ongoing merger with Korea Exchange Bank (KEB).

The group also accepted the resignations of two executives who were leading the merger on Friday. They stepped down from their posts to take responsibility for a court’s decision to halt the merger for the first six months of this year.

The ambitious plan for an early merger with KEB, which Hana Financial Group has been pushing for since last summer, hit a major road bump Wednesday when the Seoul Central District Court approved an injunction sought by KEB’s labor union against proceeding.

The court ruled that Hana Financial Group cannot seek approval for the merger from the Financial Services Commission or the group’s shareholders until after June 30.

Meanwhile, the group said its net profit in 2014 will edge up 0.4 percent from a year earlier due to a rise in both interest and non-interest income.

Net profit stood at 937.7 billion won ($860.8 million) last year, compared with 933.9 billion won the previous year, according to the company’s regulatory filing.

Its income from interest rose 3.8 percent year-on-year to 4.65 trillion won in 2014, with earnings from commission fees gaining 5.2 percent year-on-year to 1.76 trillion won.

BY SONG SU-HYUN [ssh@joongang.co.kr]