Industrial Bank of Korea (024110) 🔎 In-depth
KOSPI · Price as of 2026-08-06 · Updated 2026-08-09
Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) is a policy bank established to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and it earns most of its profit from the interest-rate gap between deposits and loans (the net interest margin), centered on SME lending. With the government as its largest shareholder, growth is gradual, but its loan assets are large and its results are steady. Consolidated net profit was ₩2,711.1 billion in 2025, its P/B (the price relative to book net assets) of 0.44x is the lowest among the large banks, and its dividend yield of 4.9% is the highest. What stands out lately is that the low price-to-book and high dividend give it undervaluation appeal, but rate cuts are compressing the net interest margin and the pace at which shareholder returns can be widened is set by capital-ratio (CET1) headroom, so capital management is the key.
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30-second brief
Pulled directly from the computed values below — not a separately written opinion.
What do the SourceComputedEstimateReading tags mean?
Source filings and exchange data · Computed calculated from public data · Estimate our own unverified projection · Reading drafted automatically, then rule-checked. See AI & Automation.
Core valuation metric
This stock's effective sub-sector is “Banks” (Financials), a type typically read first through P/B.
Banks earn by putting capital to work through deposits and loans, so what matters is how much equity (net assets) they hold and how efficiently they use it, more than headline profit. That makes price-to-book (P/B) the first lens — but it should be read alongside ROE, which shows how much profit the equity generates.
Price against assets alone says little about where the cycle stands. Reading it together with price against this year's expected earnings shows how far profits have recovered.
This note explains how each sector is typically valued and is educational context only, not investment advice.
At-a-glance assessment financial health · growth · profitability · valuation
- For financial companies, debt and interest costs are large by the nature of the business, so the debt ratio and interest coverage cannot be read on the same yardstick as an ordinary company.
- ROE is 7.2% (controlling-interest basis). It is above the sector average.
- The forward P/E sits below the sector median.
Ownership & governance As of 2025-12-31
Largest shareholder Ministry of Economy and Finance 59.5% (individual)
Controlling bloc incl. related parties 68.5%
With the controlling bloc holding 68%, control is very secure but the free float is thin.
🔎 In-depth analysis Reading
As its name suggests, IBK is a policy bank focused on SME finance. Its earnings model is simple: it raises funds through deposits and bonds, lends to SMEs and small business owners, and earns net interest income from the rate gap between the two (the net interest margin). It has long held the No. 1 share of the domestic SME lending market. Its SME loan balance is in the range of ₩250 trillion and its market share is roughly 24%, an overwhelming lead. This policy role underpins stable loan assets and a solid deposit base. On top of this come fee earnings from subsidiaries in cards, insurance, and leasing. That the government (the Ministry of Economy and Finance) is the largest shareholder strongly shapes the company's character. Because the public mission of supporting SMEs comes first, management prioritizes asset quality and stability over squeezing profitability to the maximum.
The latest close is ₩20,350 and the market capitalization is ₩16.2 trillion. The price sits below its 20-day moving average (₩20,795) and below its 60-day moving average (₩20,814). It is under both its short- and medium-term moving averages, so the trend looks subdued. The RSI (a supplementary indicator that gauges the strength of gains versus losses over the past 14 days on a 0-100 scale) is 45.2, a neutral level. The one-month change is -4.7%, the three-month change is -5.8%, and the position relative to the 52-week high is -28.7%. Relative strength versus the KOSPI is 37 (on a 1-99 scale, converted from returns against the index over the past year with more weight on recent performance; higher means stronger than the market). It is stronger than roughly 36% of all stocks. Over the past three months it outpaced the index by 11.3%. Chart interpretation is best done alongside trading volume and the dates on which disclosures occur.
Banks cannot be judged by the same yardstick of financial metrics as ordinary manufacturers. A debt ratio (debt relative to equity) that looks large is because deposits are recorded as liabilities in accounting terms; it is not a warning sign but the normal structure of the banking business. So for banks it is more appropriate to look at P/B (the price relative to book net assets) together with ROE (how much the company earns in a year on its equity) rather than the P/E ratio, because net assets are the very capital that supports lending and the source of dividend capacity. IBK's P/B is 0.46x, meaning the share price is below even half of book net assets. ROE is 7.4%, lower than large financial holding companies (8-10%). Somewhat lower profitability on net assets is one reason for the low P/B. Even so, an ROE of 7.4% with a P/B of 0.46x reads as undervalued territory even after accounting for profitability. The dividend yield of 4.9% is the highest among the large banks, and the payout ratio (the share of profit paid out as dividends) is 30.8%. EV-type metrics, which divide enterprise value by operating profit, do not apply to banks, so they are not covered separately.
As befits a bank, the earnings trend is gradual and stable. Net profit over the past three years was ₩2,669.7 billion in 2023, ₩2,644.5 billion in 2024, and ₩2,711.1 billion in 2025, staying in the ₩2.6-2.7 trillion range without large swings. Operating profit likewise moved only modestly within a ₩7.4-7.9 trillion range. This is not a fast-growing name but a mature business where profit is generated steadily in proportion to the size of the loan book. First-quarter 2026 net profit was ₩753.4 billion, down 7.5% year over year, and operating profit was ₩1,969.6 billion, down 2.3%. The backdrop is a base-rate cut compressing the net interest margin and a normalization of credit costs on SME loans. Reflecting this trend, full-year 2026 net profit is expected to come in around ₩2.6 trillion, slightly below the prior year. This is not a stock whose earnings swing sharply; dividends and capital-ratio management are the real drivers of the share price.
The most important theme is shareholder-return policy. IBK operates a value-up plan that raises the payout ratio in steps, linked to its common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio. As the capital ratio rises, the payout ratio widens from 30% to 35% to over 40%. It currently sits around a 30% payout, so lifting the capital ratio going forward is the key precondition for expanding returns. To improve predictability it also amended its articles of incorporation to create a basis for quarterly dividends, and in July 2026 it decided on cash and in-kind dividends, putting the return policy into practice. On the capital-management side, in June it decided to issue write-down contingent capital securities (bonds that are written down in a crisis and are therefore recognized as regulatory capital), reinforcing its CET1 headroom. In March it completed disclosures on the dividend record date and held its annual general meeting, and in April it fairly disclosed preliminary first-quarter results. In May and June it held several investor presentations (IR) to communicate results and capital plans to the market.
IBK's strengths are clear. The lowest P/B among the large banks (0.46x) and the highest dividend yield (4.9%) are the core of its undervaluation and high-dividend appeal. With the government as largest shareholder, bankruptcy risk is effectively low, and it has a stable business base as a leader in SME lending. The case works strongly when the CET1 ratio reaches its target range so the payout ratio rises into the 40s, the rate environment stabilizes, and the net interest margin holds. There are also points to watch on the cautionary side. Given its nature as a policy bank, it is hard to aggressively raise profitability, so ROE stays lower than large financial holding companies. On top of this, continued rate cuts compress the net interest margin, and if a slowing economy increases bad debt on SME loans, credit costs can rise. If capital-ratio improvement is slow, the pace of widening shareholder returns also slows. In short, its defensive appeal of low valuation and high dividend is pronounced, but the key to a re-rating is progress in capital management and return policy rather than earnings growth.
🔎 Valuation vs peers Undervalued
A large comparison set of listed domestic banks and financial holding companies with a similar business character.
| Peer | P/E | P/B | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woori Financial Group | 7.87x | 0.64x | 8.18% |
| Hana Financial Group | 9.14x | 0.81x | 9.03% |
| Shinhan Financial Group | 10.25x | 0.85x | 8.64% |
| KB Financial Group | 10.43x | 1.02x | 10.19% |
| BNK Financial Group | 5.68x | 0.43x | 7.96% |
| iM Financial Group | 6.40x | 0.45x | 7.13% |
For banks, net assets are the basis for lending and dividends, so P/B is the core metric. IBK's P/B of 0.46x is far below Woori, Hana, Shinhan, and KB (0.64-1.09x) and is similar to or lower than BNK (P/B 0.52x) and iM (0.47x), which have comparable ROE. A 7.4% ROE below the large holding companies is the basis for the discount, but even accounting for that profitability gap, a P/B of 0.46x and a 4.9% dividend read as undervalued territory. A P/E of 6.25x may look low, but because bank earnings vary little, the key to a re-rating is the price-to-book valuation and the headroom to improve the capital ratio rather than the P/E itself. It is also worth viewing the structural trait that, with the government as largest shareholder, stability is high but aggressive earnings expansion is difficult.
Price history Close · MA20 · MA60
The latest close is ₩20,350 and the market capitalization is ₩16.2 trillion. The price sits below its 20-day moving average (₩20,795) and below its 60-day moving average (₩20,814). It is under both its short- and medium-term moving averages, so the trend looks subdued. The RSI (a supplementary indicator that gauges the strength of gains versus losses over the past 14 days on a 0-100 scale) is 45.2, a neutral level. The one-month change is -4.7%, the three-month change is -5.8%, and the position relative to the 52-week high is -28.7%. Relative strength versus the KOSPI is 37 (on a 1-99 scale, converted from returns against the index over the past year with more weight on recent performance; higher means stronger than the market). It is stronger than roughly 36% of all stocks. Over the past three months it outpaced the index by 11.3%. Chart interpretation is best done alongside trading volume and the dates on which disclosures occur.
Relative performance stock vs index · start = 100
Excess return vs index · 3M +11.30% / 6M -26.62% / 12M -46.06%
Key metrics Computed vs whole-market median
Valuation
The P/E of 5.99x is below the whole-market median (12.97x). The P/B of 0.44x is below the whole-market median (0.84x). Both metrics are low versus peers, so the price is not expensive relative to earnings and assets.
Profitability & financials
Return on equity (ROE) is 7.2%, above the whole-market average (3.0%). The debt ratio is 1288.2%, but for financial firms deposits and insurance liabilities count as debt, so it cannot be read on the same yardstick as an ordinary company.
Growth FY2025 · annual report (consolidated)
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | — | — | — | — |
| Operating profit | $5.3B | $5.3B | $5.5B | +5.60% ↑ faster |
| Net profit | $1.9B | $1.9B | $1.9B | +2.52% ↑ faster |
| 5-year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating profit | — | — | $5.3B | $5.3B | $5.5B |
| Net profit | — | — | $1.9B | $1.9B | $1.9B |
Operating profit rose 5.6% year over year. Profit is growing at an accelerating pace.
Latest quarterly results Source
No recent quarterly results confirmed from DART.
Technical indicators Computed
What stands out
- P/E and P/B are both low versus peers, so the price looks inexpensive relative to earnings and assets.
- The dividend yield, at 5.1%, is on the high side.
Points to watch
- The figures shown are based on the last annual report as of the writing date, so it is best to review the latest quarterly results and filings alongside them.
Recent news & events searched · sourced
- 2026-07-13DividendDisclosure of a cash and in-kind dividend decision. Under the quarterly-dividend basis created in the value-up plan, shareholder returns move to the execution stage.A step that improves the timing and predictability of dividend payments. Confirms that the high-dividend, shareholder-return policy is proceeding as planned. Source
- 2026-06-25FilingDecision to issue write-down contingent capital securities. Issuing bonds recognized as regulatory capital reinforces the capital ratio.A move that widens common equity tier 1 (CET1) headroom, connected to capital management aimed at lifting the payout ratio into the 40s. Source
- 2026-04-24EarningsFair disclosure of preliminary consolidated Q1 2026 results. Net profit about ₩753.4 billion (-7.5% year over year), operating profit about ₩1,969.6 billion (-2.3%).Rate cuts compressed the net interest margin, slightly reducing profit. Not a plunge, but it suggests full-year 2026 earnings may drift modestly below the prior year. Source
- 2026-03-20DividendDisclosure of the record-date (shareholder-register closing) decision for cash and in-kind dividends. Fixing the record date for the year-end dividend payment.Confirms that the shareholder-return policy of a 5.1% dividend yield and roughly 31% payout ratio is at the execution stage. The basis for its high-dividend appeal. Source
- 2026-03-26FilingDisclosure of the annual general meeting results. Approval of the financial statements and processing of AGM agenda items including dividends.The annual dividend was confirmed and governance-related items passed normally, keeping the shareholder-return schedule on track. Source
- 2026-03-18FilingFiling of the 2025 business report. Consolidated net profit ₩2,711.1 billion, operating profit ₩7,893.6 billion, and shareholders' equity ₩36,454.7 billion confirmed.Confirms a stable profit scale similar to the prior year. Finalized results that provide the financial basis for the low P/B and high dividend. Source
- 2026-06-09IRNotice of an investor presentation (IR). Communicating results and capital and shareholder-return plans to the market.A channel for explaining the progress of the value-up program to investors and an opportunity to review the capital-ratio and dividend plans. Source
Figure cross-check computed ↔ external
| Metric | Computed | External | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/B (subsector key metric — banks) | 0.46x | ₩21,250 ÷ BPS ₩45,715 = 0.465x | Confirmed | link |
| 2025 consolidated net profit | 2₩711.1 billion | 2₩711.1 billion | Confirmed | link |
| Q1 2026 net profit | ₩753.4 billion (YoY -7.5%) | approx. ₩753.4 billion | Confirmed | link |
| 2026 net profit estimate | approx. 2₩550.0 billion (self-estimate) | — | Unverified | link |
| SME lending market share | approx. 24% | ₩250 trillion· approx. 24% | Confirmed | link |
Recent filings Source
- 2026-06-09Disclosure
- 2026-06-09Disclosure
- 2026-05-29Disclosure
- 2026-05-15PeriodicQuarterly report
- 2026-04-24EarningsFair-disclosure notice
- 2026-04-22Disclosure
- 2026-04-17EarningsEarnings disclosure
- 2026-03-26Shareholders' meeting notice
- 2026-03-25Disclosure
- 2026-03-20DividendCash/stock dividend decision
- 2026-03-18PeriodicAnnual business report
- 2026-03-11Audit report
📖 Plain-language glossary — expand if you are new to this
- P/E
- How many times a year's net profit the price is worth (lower is cheaper relative to earnings). The P/E here is on trailing (last full-year) results; for companies whose earnings swing fast (memory chips and other cyclicals/high-growth), a forward P/E on this year's expected earnings is more accurate.
- P/B
- Price relative to net assets (equity). Around 1x means it trades near book value; below 1x means below book.
- P/S
- Price relative to a year's revenue — useful for growth companies with thin earnings.
- Net debt / EV
- Net debt = interest-bearing debt − cash. Negative means more cash than debt (net cash). EV (enterprise value) = market cap + net debt, closer to what it would cost to buy the whole business.
- EV/EBIT · EV/EBITDA · EV/Sales
- Enterprise value against operating profit (EBIT), EBITDA, or revenue. Unlike P/E these reflect debt and cash; lower is cheaper relative to earnings power or sales.
- FCF / FCF yield
- Free cash flow = operating cash − capex, the cash actually left over. FCF yield = FCF ÷ market cap; higher means more cash generated per unit of market value.
- Intrinsic value (DCF)
- Future free cash flow (or, for some capex-heavy but profitable names, forecast earnings) discounted to today to estimate per-share value. Because it shifts a lot with the discount-rate and growth assumptions, it is shown as a bear/base/bull range, and the basis and assumptions are disclosed in one line beneath it.
- ROE
- How much profit the company earns in a year on its equity (%). Higher means better returns on capital.
- EPS / BPS
- Earnings per share / net assets (book value) per share.
- Operating / net margin
- Profit left from the core business / final profit after tax and interest, per unit of revenue.
- Debt ratio
- Debt relative to equity (%). Higher means more reliance on borrowing (norms vary by sector).
- Current ratio
- Assets convertible to cash within a year against debt due within a year. Above 100% leaves some short-term headroom.
- Interest coverage
- How many times operating profit covers the interest owed. Below 1x means operating profit alone struggles to cover interest.
- Dividend yield / payout ratio
- The year's dividend as a % of today's price / the share of earnings paid out as dividends.
- Revenue CAGR
- Multi-year growth expressed as a single yearly average (compound annual growth rate).
- RSI (short-term signal)
- Whether recent price action is overheated or beaten down. Above 70 is overbought, below 30 oversold.
- MA20 / MA60 (moving averages)
- The 20- and 60-day average price. Price above them signals a firmer short-term trend.
- vs 52-week high
- How far below the past year's peak the price sits now (%).
All figures are for reference only; how they read varies by sector and over time.
Sources: Korea FSC market-price API (data.go.kr), OpenDART, KRX/KIND — public data only.
Bong Stocks presents public-data-based information for reference only. It is not investment advice and contains no target prices, ratings, or buy/sell recommendations. Verify independently before making any decision.