iM Financial Group said on the 6th that net income for 2025 reached 443.9 billion won, up 106.6% from a year earlier.
A company official said, "In 2024, we proactively set aside provisions for project financing-related credit losses at the securities company and strengthened the upgrading of asset quality and soundness management across all affiliates," and added, "As a result, with a sharp decrease in provision expenses for credit losses in 2025, the group's net income more than doubled."
Backed by higher earnings, the group's estimated common equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio also improved significantly to 12.11%, up 0.39 percentage points from a year earlier.
The flagship affiliate iM Bank posted cumulative net income for 2025 of 389.5 billion won, up 6.7% from a year earlier.
After logging losses for five consecutive quarters through the fourth quarter of 2024, iM Securities successfully turned a profit every quarter in 2025 and recorded cumulative net income of 75.6 billion won.
iM Life and iM Capital recorded cumulative net income of 20.9 billion won and 54 billion won, respectively. Upgraded to "AA-" from "A+" in the second half of 2025, iM Capital posted asset growth of 28.9% and profit improvement of 60.7% from a year earlier.
The board of directors of iM Financial Group on the same day resolved a cash dividend of 700 won per common share. The per-share dividend, up 40% (200 won) from 2024, brought the payout ratio to 25.3% and the total shareholder return ratio to a record 38.8%, meeting the requirements for separate taxation of dividend income. The board also approved a plan to buy back and cancel treasury shares worth 40 billion won in the first half of 2026.
Cheon Byeong-gyu, executive vice president and CFO of iM Financial Group, said, "With the expansion of dividends meeting the requirements for separate taxation, the dividend yield is expected to be in the 4% range based on the current share price, which is likely to draw greater investor interest," and added, "In 2025, the stock rose more than 90% alongside improving earnings, but it remains the most undervalued among bank stocks, so we will actively carry out share buybacks and cancellations while pursuing various measures to enhance shareholder value from multiple angles."