The South Korean banking industry has been impacted by multiple issues in the country, as reflected in the Top 1000 ranking. The country recorded a modest 2.6% increase in gross domestic product during 2022, while the Bank of Korea attempted to bring price stability with a significant interest rate hike of 50 basis points in July 2022, with rates ending at 3.50% in December 2022.
Woori Financial Group enjoyed a successful year in 2022, which is the end of year results that the Top 1000 World Bank ranking is based on. As a result, it has come out on top of the overall best-performing bank table among the seven largest South Korean banks. Woori has taken first place for return on risk and liquidity, as well as second place for leverage, asset quality and profitability. In the main Top 1000 ranking, the bank has also moved up three places to 93rd and saw its Tier 1 capital increase by 2.35% to $22.07bn.
Shinhan Financial Group holds onto second place in the overall performance ranking, with table-topping scores in profitability and soundness. It was one of three of 11 South Korean banks to improve its core capital position in 2022, albeit by just 0.28%.
Korea Development Bank (KDB), on the other hand, has plummeted to seventh place in the best-performing table from first place in the 2022 edition. The bank was hit with a 20.04% drop in Tier 1 capital, to $27.72bn, putting it within striking distance of Hana Financial Group, with just $30m in Tier 1 separating the two banks.
KDB also saw negative return on capital (ROC) and return on assets (ROA) ratios of 21.71% and 2.15%, respectively. The contrast in the return on risk score in the best-performing table is particularly stark, with KDB scoring just 1.00, compared to 4.19 of top-placed Woori. Despite this, KDB still takes top place for asset quality in the performance table.
KB Financial Group remains the biggest bank in South Korea and climbs two places in the Top 1000 to 60th, despite a 0.33% fall in Tier 1 capital. It is the seventh-largest bank in Asia-Pacific and is joined in the regional top 10 by Shinhan Financial Group in ninth place. Indeed, seven South Korean banks have places within the regional top 25 table — the highest number of banks from any one country.
Digital-only KakaoBank, which recorded a 82.09% jump in core capital in 2021, saw a drop of a 3.71% in 2022, which meant it has fallen five places in the main ranking to 322nd position.
JB Financial Group, the smallest South Korean bank to make the Top 1000 ranking, placing 407th spot, recorded the highest ROC and ROA among its compatriots of 14.99% and 1.03%, respectively.
