JB Financial Group announced on October 24 that its net profit for the third quarter increased 0.1% year-on-year to 167.3 billion won.
On a cumulative basis, net profit was 493.4 billion won, up 1.3 percent year-on-year, the largest quarterly profit ever.
"Despite deepening internal and external uncertainties, such as persistently high inflation and a slowdown in the real estate market, the group's subsidiaries demonstrated solid performance based on profitability-oriented internal management," said an official from JB Financial Group.
The company's performance was driven by KRW loan growth and a rebound in net interest margin (NIM) at its core affiliates, Gwangju Bank and Jeonbuk Bank.
The bank's combined NIM increased 5 basis points sequentially to 2.84%, while KRW loans increased 2.4% to KRW 39.68 trillion from KRW 38.75 trillion in the previous quarter.
Operating income on a consolidated basis for the third quarter was KRW 230.6 billion, the same as a year earlier. Interest income increased 8.5% to KRW 486.8 billion from KRW 448.7 billion last year, and non-interest income increased 149.6% to KRW 43.4 billion from KRW 17.4 billion last year.
Return on equity (ROE), a key management indicator, was 13.7% and return on assets (ROA) was 1.11%, maintaining the highest level of profitability in the industry. Operating expense ratio (CIR), an indicator of management efficiency, was 35.8%, driven by continued cost control efforts. This is an all-time low.
Common equity ratio increased 1.02 percentage points year-on-year to 12.45%, a record high. Based on the improved capital ratio, JB Financial will continue to pursue its shareholder return policy to enhance shareholder value.
By subsidiary, Kwangju Bank's net profit as of the third quarter of this year decreased by 6.9% year-on-year to KRW 73.4 billion. Although total operating income increased, provisions for loan losses tripled to 56.7 billion won from 13.3 billion won in the same period a year earlier.
For the third quarter of this year, Jeonbuk Bank's net profit increased 0.5% year-on-year to 57.1 billion won. Revenue increased 32.2% year-on-year to 376.3 billion won, while operating profit increased 6.2% to 76.1 billion won.
JB Woori Capital realized net profit of 46.9 billion won in the third quarter of this year, up 1.8% year-on-year. JB Asset Management's net profit for the third quarter of this year fell 27.6% year-on-year to KRW 1.1 billion. The net profit of our subsidiary Phnom Penh Commercial Bank (PPCBank) in Cambodia increased 39.0% year-on-year to KRW 11.3 billion in the third quarter of this year.
