JB Financial Group (JB Financial) has posted a record-breaking first half of the year. JB Financial announced on July 26 that its net profit for the first half of the year came in at 326.1 billion won.
This is a 1.9% increase from the first half of last year (320 billion won), and the largest half-yearly profit ever. Net profit for the second quarter was 162.8 billion won, up 6.2% from the second quarter of last year (1532 billion won).
Return on equity (ROE), a measure of profitability relative to capital, stood at 13.8% at the end of the first half, and return on assets (ROA), a measure of how efficiently assets are managed, was 1.11%, the highest among Korean banking and financial stocks.
JB Financial also announced a half-yearly dividend of 120 won per share, as well as a 30 billion won treasury stock acquisition trust agreement.
In addition, JB Financial signed a strategic partnership agreement with FINDA, a loan brokerage and management fintech, through a mutual stake acquisition. JB Financial will acquire a 15% stake in FINDA (JB Financial 5%, Jeonbuk Bank 10%), making it the second largest shareholder.
FINDA will purchase JB Financial shares equal to the amount of JB Financial's investment. JB Financial and FINDA will collaborate on the development of alternative credit scoring models as well as joint product development to create various synergies.
