SC Jeil Bank Reports 9.7% Increase in Q1 Net Profit to 102.9 Billion Won

Interest Income Increase Leads to Operating Profit of 134.4 Billion KRW
Return on Assets Up 0.53 Percentage Points to 8.85%
SC Jeil Bank "Loan Assets Affected by Expansion of Financial Market Transactions"

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] SC First Bank announced that its net profit for the first quarter of this year reached 102.9 billion KRW, an increase of 9.1 billion KRW (9.7%) compared to the same period last year.

Operating profit for the same period also rose by 14.9 billion KRW (12.5%) to 134.4 billion KRW. SC First Bank explained this as a base effect from increasing the provision for loan losses in the first quarter of last year due to COVID-19.

Interest income increased by 5.5% despite a decline in net interest margin (NIM) amid worsening market conditions following the Bank of Korea’s base rate cuts. This was due to steady strengthening of the business foundation, expansion of loan assets, and an increase in low-cost deposit balances.

On the other hand, non-interest income decreased by 16.9%. Although the wealth management (WM) division showed steady performance growth, the foreign exchange trading division was somewhat sluggish compared to the previous year.

The provision for loan losses decreased by 17 billion KRW. This was largely due to a significant increase in provisions and conservative risk management in the first quarter of last year. At that time, SC First Bank proactively set aside expected credit loss provisions in preparation for an economic slowdown.

The return on assets (ROA) was 0.49%, down 0.02 percentage points from last year, while the return on equity (ROE) rose by 0.53 percentage points to 8.85% compared to the same period last year.

Key soundness indicators such as the ratio of non-performing loans (NPL) and delinquency rate improved by 0.16 percentage points and 0.10 percentage points to 0.24% and 0.12%, respectively, exceeding regulatory requirements. As of the end of March, the Basel III (BIS) capital adequacy ratio and Tier 1 capital ratio stood at 15.57% and 13.74%, respectively.

The asset size was reported at 88.0734 trillion KRW, an increase of 4.8845 trillion KRW (5.9%) from 83.1889 trillion KRW at the end of last year. Overall, loan assets increased, and financial market-related transactions in the corporate finance division expanded.

SC First Bank stated, “Based on collaboration with the SC Group, we will provide customers with practical business and investment opportunities through the launch of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) products and services.”

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