Shinhan Financial Group "Shinhan Bank's Loan Growth Target for This Year is 3%"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] Shinhan Financial Group has set the loan asset growth target for Shinhan Bank at 3% this year. While the loan growth target was conservatively estimated, the group plans to respond to the uncertain management environment through intensive cost-cutting measures.

No Yonghoon, Vice President of Shinhan Financial Group, said during a conference call held after the announcement of the '2019 Management Performance Status' on the 5th, "We will make efforts to defend the net interest margin (NIM), but a decline in interest rates is expected," adding, "Due to anticipated uncertainties this year, (the bank's interest income segment) was conservatively estimated." Shinhan Financial reflected in this year's financial plan that if interest rates fall by 25bp, the NIM will decrease by 3bp.

He stated, "For cards, we set the asset growth target at over 6%, mainly focusing on lease financing," and added, "Interest income from non-bank sectors is expected to expand."

The group as a whole expects non-interest income to increase by 5%.

As management uncertainties increase, Shinhan Financial plans to continue intensive cost-cutting efforts this year as well. Vice President No explained, "We expect the cost-to-income ratio (CIR) to remain in the mid-40% range this year," and added, "This includes strategic cost reductions through digitalization."

Shinhan Financial's CIR recorded 46.5% last year due to improved digital efficiency and increased operating profit. This represents an improvement of 0.8 percentage points compared to the previous year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.