[Click eStock] "Shinhan Financial Group, Expectations for Expanded Shareholder Returns... Target Price Up"

Meritz Securities raised the target price for Shinhan Financial Group to 53,000 KRW on the 13th, citing expectations for expanded shareholder returns. The investment rating was maintained at 'Buy.'

Researcher Jo Ahae stated, "Shinhan Financial Group's controlling shareholder net profit for Q4 was 549.7 billion KRW, a 68.2% increase compared to the same period last year, but it fell short of consensus by 8.7%," adding, "This was due to proactive provision reserves of 350.6 billion KRW and valuation losses on alternative investment assets amounting to 248.7 billion KRW."

He explained, "Interest income increased by 0.8% year-on-year, and non-interest income improved significantly," and noted, "The loan loss cost ratio was 0.68%, reflecting large-scale proactive loan loss provisions." The loan loss provisions include 167.3 billion KRW for real estate project financing (PF) and 23 billion KRW for Taeyoung Construction.

He also pointed out, "However, the scale of treasury stock repurchases and cancellations expanded compared to the previous quarter," specifying, "The amount of treasury stock repurchased and canceled was 150 billion KRW." In Q3, this figure was 100 billion KRW.

Researcher Jo added, "With equal quarterly dividends and treasury stock repurchases and cancellations conducted every quarter, the visibility of the shareholder return policy stands out the most," and said, "Although the 750 billion KRW from last year's conversion of convertible preferred shares to common shares offsets this, from this year onward, a substantial expansion of shareholder returns can be expected."

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