KB Financial Group said on Aug. 26 that it has obtained an "A" rating for corporate credit rating and a "stable" rating outlook from Standard & Poor's (S&P), an international credit appraisal company.
It is the highest rating currently granted by S&P to a local bank holding company. KB Financial Group acquired an "A1" rating from Moody's in June, followed by an "A" rating from S&P, achieving its goal to have multiple excellent international credit ratings.
"The results are based on the solid market position as the nation's largest financial holding company, diversified business structure, superior capital adequacy and stable asset soundness, and, in addition, the systemic importance of its subsidiary KB Kookmin Bank," a KB Financial Group official said.
Regarding the acquisition of a series of high international credit ratings, he stressed, “It is significant in terms of expanding the base of the procurement market and securing competitiveness as it is necessary to preemptively secure procurement competitiveness due to the need to diversify the procurement base into the international financial market where investors are in high demand.”
In June, KB Kookmin Bank, a key unit of KB Financial Group, successfully issued $500 million worth of foreign currency new capital securities. The foreign currency new capital securities issued at that time received the investment qualification grades (Moody's: Baa3, S&P: BBB-) from Moody's and S&P companies for the first time in Korea, allowing the bank to attract a wide range of investors from the international market under competitive procurement conditions.
Currently, the S&P credit ratings of KB Financial Group's major affiliates are "A+" for KB Kookmin Bank and "A-" for KB Securities, all of which have the best international credit ratings in the industry.
