A clerk sorts $100 banknotes at the headquarters of Hana Bank in Seoul on May 7.YONHAP
Korea's four largest financial groups collectively earned more than 11 trillion won ($7.53 billion) in the first half of 2026, a record for a six-month period.
Growth at the banks slowed under regulatory curbs on household lending, but their securities and asset management arms made up the difference, carried by a surging stock market.
Hana Financial Group said Friday that first-half net profit rose 4.4 percent from a year earlier to 2.4 trillion won. Second-quarter profit came to 1.19 trillion won. One-off costs weighed on the result, including provisions tied to a corporate restructuring and losses on foreign currency translation. Fee income still climbed 37.7 percent to 1.49 trillion won and held the line. Hana Securities more than doubled its own first-half profit to 273.1 billion won, a jump of 155.7 percent.
Woori Financial Group's first-half profit rose 3.7 percent to 1.61 trillion won. Second-quarter profit was 66 percent higher than in the first quarter, at just over 1 trillion won. That restored the group's quarterly profit to the trillion-won level. Lighter credit costs and even growth in both interest and non-interest income drove the turnaround. Non-bank operations supplied 22.3 percent of group profit, up from 6.9 percent a year earlier, after Woori absorbed Tongyang Life Insurance and its securities, card and capital units improved.
KB Financial Group and Shinhan Financial Group, which reported a day earlier, posted first-half profits of 3.88 trillion won and 3.44 trillion won.
That leaves the four at 11.34 trillion won together, up 9.8 percent, or just over 1 trillion won, from 10.33 trillion won a year earlier. It also beat the 11.25 trillion won the market expected as of Wednesday in a tally by market tracker FnGuide. Second-quarter profit across the four came to 6.01 trillion won.
NongHyup Financial Group also set a half-year record, with profit up 9.2 percent to 1.78 trillion won. NongHyup Bank's profit fell 2.1 percent on a heavier tax burden, including the education tax. NH Investment & Securities, however, more than doubled its profit to 965.2 billion won, a rise of 107.5 percent, buoying the group. NongHyup's second-quarter profit of 910.4 billion won came in just below the 914.6 billion won it earned a year earlier.
The same pattern ran through all five groups. KB Securities' second-quarter profit rose 182.1 percent from a year earlier; Shinhan Securities and Shinhan Asset Management were up 91.6 percent and 153.7 percent for the quarter; and Hana Securities and NH Investment & Securities posted triple-digit growth for the half.
Bank ATMs are seen in central Seoul on July 19.NEWS1
Record profit under a cap on household lending points to a wider earnings base. The Bank of Korea's rate increase on July 16 should feed through to lending rates with a lag, which could accelerate the improvement in net interest margins.
The securities gains rest on rising share prices and heavier trading volume. A market correction would cut fee and trading income quickly, and higher rates could push up credit costs if vulnerable borrowers fall behind on repayments.
The record results have set off a competition in shareholder returns. KB will buy back and cancel another 700 billion won of its own shares and pay a dividend of 1,155 won per share. Shinhan settled on the same 700 billion won in buybacks and cancellations, with a quarterly dividend of 740 won. Hana will buy back and cancel 250 billion won worth of stock and pay 1,155 won per share. Woori will buy back and cancel a further 150 billion won in the second half and pay a quarterly dividend of 220 won.
The results could come back as a political problem, however, given that the groups earned more than ever while borrowers paid more in interest.
Regulators have been pressing lenders to expand shared-growth finance, the policy term for cheaper credit and fee relief aimed at struggling borrowers, even as investors push in the opposite direction.
"Shareholders are demanding bigger dividends and more share cancellations, and the financial authorities are calling for stronger shared-growth finance," an industry source said. "Once you factor in loan-loss provisioning and capital ratio management, the pressure on the holding companies to manage their resources is bound to grow."
BY KIM WON [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
