IBK Industrial Bank, 1Q Net Profit Up 18.3%... SME Market Share Expanded to 23.11% (Comprehensive)

SME Loan Balance Reaches 192.1 Trillion Won... Market Share Hits Record High of 23.11%

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] As the demand for loans from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners surged due to the spread of COVID-19, IBK Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) expanded its market share in SME finance to an all-time high of 23.11% along with strong performance in the first quarter of this year.

On the 26th, IBK announced that its consolidated net profit including subsidiaries for the first quarter of this year increased by 18.3% year-on-year to 592 billion KRW, while the bank’s standalone net profit excluding subsidiaries rose by 8.3% to 539.8 billion KRW.

IBK cited the growth of loan assets through support for SMEs and small business owners, stable credit quality management due to the recovery of client companies’ business conditions, and improved subsidiary performance from efforts to diversify revenue sources as the main factors behind the profit increase.

The outstanding SME loan balance at IBK reached 192.1 trillion KRW, up 5.3 trillion KRW (2.8%) compared to the end of the previous year. The market share in SME finance also expanded by 0.01 percentage points from the end of last year to 23.11%.

Thanks to abundant market liquidity and gradual economic improvement centered on export companies, the loan loss cost ratio fell by 0.10 percentage points year-on-year to 0.29%. The non-performing loan ratio was 1.05%, and the total delinquency ratio was 0.35%, showing improvements of 0.24 and 0.17 percentage points respectively compared to the same period last year, reflecting sound credit quality.

For general subsidiaries, net profit increased by 148.9% year-on-year to 90.1 billion KRW, driven by improved performance of major subsidiaries such as IBK Capital, IBK Investment & Securities, and pension insurance.

An IBK official stated, “In the past, loan assets increased during crises have led to profit improvements during economic recovery periods, and with additional capital injections into subsidiaries at the end of last year reflected, we expect gradual performance improvements.” He added, “We will make this year a foundation for sustainable growth by accelerating ESG (environment, social, and governance) management and digital transformation.”

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