The combined first-quarter net profit of the three regional financial holding companies topped 530 billion won, rising nearly 10% from the same period last year. However, BNK Financial Group was the only one to show meaningful earnings growth, with both banking and nonbank affiliates expanding. JB Financial Group and iM Financial Group barely avoided negative growth as nonbank affiliates offset weaker bank earnings.
According to the financial sector on the 4th, the combined first-quarter net profit of the three regional financial groups—BNK, JB and iM—was 532 billion won. That was up 9.9% from 483.7 billion won in the first quarter of last year.
Among the three, BNK's net profit growth stood out. It rose 26.9% from 166.6 billion won in the first quarter of last year to 211.4 billion won in the first quarter of this year. During the same period, JB increased 2.1% from 162.8 billion won to 166.1 billion won, while iM edged up from 154.3 billion won to 154.5 billion won.
BNK was the only one last year to show growth across both banking and nonbank results. BNK Financial Group's banking institutional sector net profit was 175.6 billion won, up 13.3% from a year earlier. Gyeongnam Bank fell 2.7% to 67.5 billion won, but Busan Bank rose 26.3% to 108.1 billion won, driving banking results.
BNK Financial Group's nonbank institutional sector net profit surged 73.8% to 59.6 billion won from a year earlier. In addition, BNK Capital posted 38.2 billion won, BNK Investment & Securities 9.3 billion won, and BNK Asset Management 8 billion won in net profit.
By contrast, the other financial holding companies saw nonbank affiliates barely make up for weak banking performance. JB Financial Group's Jeonbuk Bank posted 39.9 billion won in net profit, down 22.5% from a year earlier, and Kwangju Bank fell 8.7% to 61.1 billion won. Both banks recorded losses in the noninterest institutional sector, with total losses of 18.9 billion won cited as a key reason for the weak results. In the first quarter of last year, the noninterest institutional sector recorded 21.7 billion won in net profit, but it swung to a loss in a year.
JB Financial Group's nonbank affiliates generally delivered solid results. JB Woori Capital posted 72.7 billion won in net profit, up 24.3% from a year earlier. JB Asset Management also recorded 1.1 billion won, and JB Investment 3 billion won in net profit.
For iM Financial Group, the gap between banking and nonbank results was even starker. iM Bank's first-quarter net profit was 120.6 billion won, down 3.6% from a year earlier, while iM Life's net profit rose 63.4% to 16.5 billion won. iM Capital also posted 19.3 billion won in net profit, up 31.3% from a year earlier. As a result, the share of nonbank affiliates in the iM Financial Group's total profit expanded from 30.3% to 34%.