Citibank Korea Reports Net Profit of 279.4 Billion KRW Last Year, Down 9.1% YoY

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Kim] Citibank Korea announced on the 27th that it recorded a net income of 279.4 billion KRW last year. This is a 9.1% decrease compared to the previous year (307.4 billion KRW).

Citibank explained that excluding one-time non-recurring factors, net income increased by 3.3% compared to the previous year. This was mainly due to an increase in non-interest income and other operating income. Return on assets and return on equity decreased by 0.06 percentage points and 0.13 percentage points from the previous year, recording 0.54% and 4.58%, respectively.

Asset quality remains at a sound level. At the end of December last year, the Basel III (BIS) capital adequacy ratio and common equity tier 1 ratio were 19.56% and 18.76%, respectively, rising by 0.63 percentage points and 0.58 percentage points compared to the previous year.

Total revenue last year was 1.3377 trillion KRW, an increase of 9.9% compared to the previous year. Interest income in 2019 decreased by 3.0% year-on-year to 963.3 billion KRW due to a downward trend in interest rates, which narrowed the net interest margin by 12 basis points (1bp = 0.01 percentage points). Non-interest income increased by 10.2% year-on-year to 260.2 billion KRW, driven by overall strong performance in core businesses such as investment and insurance product sales commissions and trust fees. Other operating income increased by 126.1 billion KRW year-on-year to 114.2 billion KRW, due to one-time gains from the sale of the head office building, increased gains from government bonds trading, and loan asset sales.

The ratio of non-performing loans classified as substandard or below was 0.74%, up 0.04 percentage points from the previous year, and the loan loss provision coverage ratio was 197.9%, almost unchanged from the previous year.

Park Jin-hoe, CEO of Citibank Korea, said, “This year, based on the highest level of capital ratio in the country, we will focus on expanding our customer base, enhancing digital capabilities, strengthening financial consumer protection and internal controls, and improving productivity for sustainable growth.”

Meanwhile, at the regular shareholders’ meeting held at the head office in Dae-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, Citibank reappointed Ahn Byung-chan, former director of the International Department at the Bank of Korea, and Lee Mi-hyun, professor at Yonsei University, as outside directors and audit committee members for a one-year term each. Ji Dong-hyun, former CEO of AM Plus Asset Development, was newly appointed as an outside director and audit committee member for a two-year term. Last year, a dividend of 65.2 billion KRW (205 KRW per common share) was declared.

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