Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) said on Feb. 5 that net profit on a consolidation basis last year was 2.7189 trillion won, up 2.4% from a year earlier. It was the highest result on record.
Bank interest income fell 1.0% to 7.205 trillion won, but noninterest income jumped 183.6% to 720.9 billion won. The net interest margin (NIM) was 1.58%, down 0.12 percentage point (p) from 2024 (1.70%).
The total delinquency rate on loans was 0.89%, up 0.09 percentage point from a year earlier. The ratio of substandard or below loans was 1.28%, down 0.06 percentage point.
An Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) official said, "We secured stable earnings thanks to improved noninterest income from investments in promising innovative corporations and year-end exchange rate stability," and added, "We defended interest income by actively expanding loans to small and midsize enterprises while lowering funding expense."
Looking only at the fourth quarter, net profit was 459.2 billion won, up 0.6% from the same period a year earlier. However, it fell 38.9% from the previous quarter. The factors included a reassessment of provisions for ordinary wages and grants to a bad bank.
At the end of last year, the outstanding loan balance to small and midsize enterprises was 261.9 trillion won, up 14.7 trillion won (5.9%) from the end of the previous year. Total assets on a bank basis surpassed 500 trillion won.
An Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) official said, "This year, we plan to expand funding support in productive sectors such as advanced and innovative industries, startups and venture corporations, and small and midsize enterprises located in the regions."