|
KOREA |
Best Bank: Hana Bank | |
Hana Bank wins this award for not only growing at a faster rate than its competitors but also for doing so in a way that doesn’t endanger its franchise in the long run.
The bank reported consolidated net profit of W3.2 trillion ($2.5 billion) for 2022, a 23.3% jump from 2021. This was a better performance than its two main rivals, Shinhan Bank and KB Kookmin Bank, and reflects a diverse revenue stream spanning corporate finance, foreign exchange and asset management.
Its core income rose 22% and total assets about 13% year on year. Hana’s non-performing loan ratio improved to 0.21% from 0.26% and its return on tangible common equity ticked up to 10.72% from 9.42%.
Numbers aside, Hana Bank, led by chief executive Lee Seung-lyul, has been quick to adapt to the changing banking environment and digitalization. It has established virtual bank branches, added non-banking services to its mobile app and in July 2022 became the first bank in Korea to launch a mobile-only foreign-currency trading service. This has proven popular, seeing $640 million in trading volume by March 2023.