Assets of 8 key financial groups nearly double over decade

SEOUL, July 27 (Yonhap) -- Major financial groups in South Korea have seen their assets almost double over the past decade on the back of their push for business expansion, data showed Wednesday.

The country's eight financial groups had 3,221.7 trillion won (US$2.46 trillion) as of the end of 2021, up 95 percent from 2012, according to the data from corporate tracker CEO Score.

The eight financial groups are KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NH Nonghyup, Mirae Asset, Meritz and Korea Investment Holdings.

In particular, their overseas assets came to about 128 trillion won last year, up a whopping 90 trillion won from the end of 2012.

Their assets in the United States were the largest at 25.9 trillion won, followed by China with 15.9 trillion won, Indonesia with 15.3 trillion won and Vietnam with 13.6 trillion won.

The ratio of assets held by their non-bank units grew solidly over the period, with that for the securities and investment sectors swelling by 5.8 percentage points.

The combined net income of those financial groups stood at some 29 trillion won last year, up roughly 175 percent from 2012.

Companies belonging to the financial groups numbered 324 last year, up 56.5 percent from 207 in 2012, according to the data.

(END)