Hana Financial Investment analyzed on the 29th that iM Securities achieved strong results in the first quarter of this year and significantly improved its CET 1 ratio. Consequently, the investment opinion is maintained at "buy," and the target price has been raised to 13,000 won. In the previous trading session, iM Securities closed at 9,650 won.
According to Hana Financial Investment, iM Financial's net profit in the first quarter recorded 154.3 billion won, a 38.1% increase compared to the same period last year, surpassing market expectations. Researcher Choi Jeong-wook emphasized that the estimated net profit of 452 billion won for this year, assuming more than 100% growth compared to last year, is fully achievable.
Choi noted that the easing of provisions was a factor for the positive performance. He said, "While about 14.2 billion won in real estate project financing provisions were reversed in securities, the overall soundness remained good as the group non-performing loan (NPL) ratio was maintained at 1.63%, resulting in a group provision expense of 70 billion won."
Choi added, "Although loans saw little increase and the net interest margin (NIM) slightly decreased, net interest income also slightly diminished, but commission income improved due to increased project financing fees and securities brokerage fees. Other non-interest income significantly increased because of the expansion of bank securities-related earnings and securities product management income."
Furthermore, Choi forecasted that this earnings announcement could further highlight price attractiveness. He noted, "At a point where the turnaround story can be strongly emphasized due to iM Securities' recovery prospects, the expected total shareholder return this year, considering cash dividends and share buybacks and cancellations, is about 10.5%, the highest among banks." He added, "Considering the improvement in performance and the upward trend of the CET 1 ratio, the future total shareholder return is likely to exceed market expectations, and given this, the current price-to-book ratio of 0.25 is significantly undervalued compared to other banks."