Voluntary Retirement Severance Only 1.2 Trillion Won... Korea Citi Bank Posts 800 Billion Won Net Loss Last Year

Net Profit of 143.4 Billion Won After Deducting Voluntary Retirement Costs

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Citibank Korea recorded a net loss close to 800 billion KRW last year. This was due to severance costs related to the abolition of the consumer finance division, which amounted to 1.2 trillion KRW.

On the 30th, Citibank Korea disclosed in its business report that it recorded a net loss of 796 billion KRW last year. This is attributed to severance costs related to the phased abolition of consumer finance amounting to 1.192 trillion KRW (after deducting 95.9 billion KRW in retirement benefit adjustment income). Previously, Citibank Korea had offered a voluntary retirement plan that compensated up to 700 million KRW based on the remaining salary until retirement age.

Excluding such one-time items, last year's net profit reached 143.4 billion KRW. This represents a decrease of about 23.6% compared to the previous year's net profit of 187.8 billion KRW.

Meanwhile, total revenue last year was 1.033 trillion KRW, down 15.8% from the previous year. During the same period, interest income and non-interest income decreased by 10.5% and 28.9%, respectively.

Citibank Korea explained, "Net interest margin declined due to increased funding costs from proactive liquidity management, and the phased abolition of consumer finance along with the bank user protection plan caused card point expenses, which impacted the decrease in interest income."

As of the end of last year, customer loan assets stood at 24.5 trillion KRW, down 0.6% from the previous year. Deposits increased by 2.4% year-on-year to 28 trillion KRW despite the announcement of withdrawal from consumer finance.

Yoo Myung-soon, CEO of Citibank Korea, stated, "During the phased abolition of consumer finance, we will prioritize customer protection and comply with related laws and procedures, faithfully implementing the 'Bank User Protection Plan' announced last January."

Additionally, Citibank Korea held its regular shareholders' meeting on the same day and reappointed Jeong Min-ju, former Vice President of BNK Financial Group, and Ji Dong-hyun, former KB Financial Group executive, as outside directors and audit committee members, respectively. Their terms are each one year. Furthermore, Kim Min-hee, representative lawyer of the law firm Haejahyun, was newly appointed as an outside director and audit committee member for a two-year term.

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