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Shinhan Financial Group posts second-highest earnings, boosted by ballooning loans

Published: 06 Feb. 2025, 18:19 Updated: 08 Feb. 2025, 14:37

SHIN HA-NEE
[email protected]

The headquarters of Shinhan Bank, flagship subsidiary of Shinhan Financial group, in Jung District, central Seoul [YONHAP]

Shinhan Financial Group reported a 4.52 trillion won ($3.12 billion) in net profit for 2024, up 3.4 percent on year, boosted by growth in loans, according to its earnings report released Thursday.

The holding company's earnings, its second-highest ever, missed the average estimate of 4.68 trillion won compiled by market tracker FnGuide. The firm had reported a net profit of 4.64 trillion won in 2022, partly driven by a one-off gain from the sale of Shinhan Securities’ headquarters building.

The country's ballooning debt over the year aided the strong results. Interest income rose 5.4 percent to 11.4 trillion won, despite a decline in market interest rates and a resulting fall in net interest margins, due to growth in loans issued.

While the group’s cumulative net interest margin declined by 0.04 percentage points to 1.93 percent last year, its interest-bearing asset expanded by 7.3 percent.

Noninterest income, on the other hand, contracted 5 percent to 3.26 trillion won amid the weak local currency and high volatility in the financial market.

Operating profit rose 7.4 percent to 6.55 trillion won, missing analyst estimates of 6.71 trillion won.

Shinhan Financial Group said that it would repurchase and retire 500 billion won in shares that day, bringing the total amount of treasury shares retired — or set to be retired — since the beginning of the New Year to 650 billion won, and declared a fourth-quarter dividend of 540 won per share.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [[email protected]]