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JB Financial defeats DGB in 2019 earnings
By Park Jae-hyuk
JB Financial Group became the nation's second-largest provincial banking group in net profit, overtaking its competitor DGB Financial Group in earnings last year, their regulatory filings showed Thursday.
In 2019, JB posted a 341 billion won ($288 million) net income, up 41.6 percent from a year earlier.
This was the largest amount the financial group has ever logged since it launched its holding company structure in 2013.
The banking group based in North and South Jeolla Provinces attributed the handsome profit to its expansion in foreign markets.
Phnom Penh Commercial Bank, its Cambodian subsidiary, posted 20.7 billion won in net profit last year, up 40.5 percent from a year earlier.
JB also acquired Hanoi-based Morgan Stanley Gateway Securities in December 2019 to strengthen its foothold in the Southeast Asian market.
In contrast, DGB posted a 327 billion won net profit last year, down 14.6 percent from a year earlier.
The slump followed recessions in the auto parts and material industries in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, where the financial group is based.
BNK Financial Group maintained the lead among the three provincial banking groups, with its 562 billion won net income last year, which was up 12 percent year-on-year.
Although its income interest dropped slightly, the financial group based in Busan and South Gyeongsang Province was able to enjoy earnings growth, thanks to improvements in non-interest income and non-banking sectors.
Its non-interest income was 152 billion won last year, up 87.8 percent from a year earlier.
Net incomes of its non-banking affiliates ― BNK Capital, BNK Securities and BNK Savings Bank ― collectively went up 25 percent from a year earlier.
Analysts expect the rankings of the three provincial banking groups will remain unchanged in the short term.
"We slightly raised JB's estimated earnings this year to 344 billion won, considering its solid non-interest margin," Samsung Securities analyst Kim Jae-woo said in his recent report. "As for DGB, it is urged to improve its earnings in banking with a better non-interest margin, despite unfavorable conditions such as lower interest rates."
The analyst estimated net profits of DGB and BNK this year at 313 billion won and 544 billion won, respectively.
