KDB Industrial Bank Announces Record-High Dividend... Contributing to National Fiscal Soundness Enhancement

Resolution to Pay 833.1 Billion KRW in Dividends to the Government in 2022

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] On the 31st, the Korea Development Bank (KDB) resolved at its regular shareholders' meeting to pay dividends totaling 833.1 billion KRW, the largest amount ever.

Although KDB's net interest margin (NIM) is somewhat lower compared to commercial banks due to primarily supplying low-interest policy funds, it recorded an ordinary net profit exceeding 1 trillion KRW in 2021 through asset expansion via fund supply of 83.2 trillion KRW and increased dividend income from investment assets. Additionally, with the successful turnaround of HMM, which had been supported for management normalization through debt restructuring and financial support since 2016, KDB realized an additional profit of approximately 1.4 trillion KRW, achieving a net profit of about 2.5 trillion KRW in 2021.

Since 2018, KDB has consistently paid dividends to the government and was selected as an excellent government dividend institution in 2021. Looking at KDB’s dividends over the past three years, they were 144.9 billion KRW in 2019, 112 billion KRW in 2020, and 209.6 billion KRW in 2021.

KDB has absorbed large losses incurred during the restructuring of major corporations such as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and the STX group through its retained earnings, while striving for management normalization under consistent restructuring principles. Since 2017, by successfully completing restructuring tasks and expanding new businesses such as supporting innovative growth and investing in venture companies, KDB has achieved five consecutive years of profitability, significantly strengthening financial stability with retained earnings increasing to 7.4 trillion KRW at the end of 2021.

Loan assets increased by 33 trillion KRW (24%) from 138 trillion KRW at the end of 2016 to 171 trillion KRW at the end of 2021, and investment assets increased by 18 trillion KRW (30%) from 61 trillion KRW at the end of 2016 to 79 trillion KRW at the end of 2021.

A KDB official stated, "By paying the largest-ever dividends to the government using large-scale profits as resources, KDB will further solidify its status as a leading domestic policy financial institution and greatly contribute to enhancing national fiscal soundness. Going forward, based on a stable financial structure, we will do our best to support policy finance, and the profits generated in this process will be used to expand policy finance and achieve government policy goals, continuously contributing to improving national fiscal soundness.”

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