[팍스넷뉴스 양도웅 기자] KB Financial Group has decided the dividend payout ratio in 2020 is 20%. Dividend payout ratio refers to the ratio of total dividends to net income. The dividend payout ratio of 20% is the highest at the dividend level recently recommended by the financial authorities.
KB Finance held the board of directors on the 4th and decided to pay 1770 won per share in cash as a settlement dividend in 2020. The total dividend amount is 6896 billion won, considering that last year’s net income (consolidated basis) was 3.4552 billion won, the payout ratio is about 20%. Compared to the previous year, the dividend payout ratio decreased by 6 percentage points (p) and the dividend per share decreased by 440 won.
The 20% dividend payout ratio is the lowest in the past five years. The dividend per share of KRW 1,770 is the second lowest in the last five years. However, this was determined as the maximum level from’dividend payout ratio of 20% or less’, which is the level recently recommended by financial authorities to financial companies.
At a regular meeting on the 27th of last month, the Financial Services Commission decided on a recommendation containing such details. This was because financial companies needed to maintain high capital in order to provide financial support to companies and individuals affected by Corona 19 this year.
Lee Hwan-ju, vice president of KB Finance (CFO), explained, “We decided to set the dividend payout ratio to 20% in sympathy with the purpose of the financial authorities that it is necessary to prepare for economic uncertainty and maintain sufficient loss absorption capacity in a situation where Corona 19 is not completely ended. did.
However, KB Financial explained that the fact that the dividend payout ratio was significantly reduced from the previous year was a temporary measure following the Corona 19 incident.
Vice President Lee said, “As the financial authority’s recommendation is until the end of June this year, we plan to promote shareholder return under the premise that the economy continues to recover,” he said. We will review it so that it can be carried out at an appropriate time.”
KB Finance plans to continue the’progressive dividend policy’ that it has previously pursued. In fact, KB Financial’s dividend payout ratio has steadily increased since 2015, excluding dividends in 2020. KB Finance decided 22.3% for its dividend payout ratio in 2015, but decided to 26.0% in 2019. During this period, the dividend per share also more than doubled from 980 won to 2210 won.
Vice President Lee said, “KB Finance will continue to show its shareholders and investors a step further in the industry when it comes to capital utilization and shareholder return.”
On the other hand, on that day, KB Finance also announced its 2020 results. KB Financial Group’s net income (consolidated basis) last year recorded KRW 3.45 trillion, up 4.3% from the previous year. Net interest income increased 5.7% from the previous year to 9,722.3 billion won, and net commission income increased 25.6% from the previous year.
In preparation for the increase in insolvent loans due to the prolonged Corona 19, provisions for bad debts were additionally accumulated in the fourth quarter following the second quarter of last year. The ratio of NPL, a representative soundness indicator, improved at the end of last year by 0.08%p to 0.41% from the same period last year.
Vice President Lee said, “We will preemptively manage risks by conservatively considering financial support and industrial impact related to Corona 19.”
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