Shinhan Financial said it is officially pushing to acquire non-life insurers including Lotte Non-Life Insurance.
Jang Jeong-hun, Shinhan Financial chief financial officer (CFO), said in a conference call right after the second-quarter earnings release on the 23rd afternoon, in response to a question about "acquiring a non-life insurer," "We are reviewing various assets in addition to Lotte Non-Life Insurance, but nothing has been decided."
Jang, the CFO, said, "M&A is hard to decide based only on our position, so it can take time to find common ground," adding, "We will pursue deals within a stable CET1 ratio." Jang, the CFO, added, "We hope you will have expectations for the M&A that Shinhan is pursuing."
Shinhan Financial also emphasized, "There will be no impact on shareholder returns due to M&A." It said it set the CET1 ratio management range at 13.0% to 13.4% and will use only the excess above that for M&A.
Jang, the CFO, said, "Even when we proceed with M&A, we will consider investors' required rates of return such as ROI (return on investment) and EPS (earnings per share)," adding, "In the short and mid-to-long term, there will be no impact on shareholder returns due to M&A, and I can affirm there will be no impact on shareholder returns for the year in question."