September 08, 2024

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KB Financial Group’s headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul (KB Financial Group)

KB Financial Group is to release a plan to uplift its corporate value in the fourth quarter as part of the government's "corporate value-up” directive, the financial giant said Monday in a regulatory filing.

Its board members and executives held a meeting Friday, discussing how to boost its corporate value through mid- to long-term asset management, asset growth strategies and shareholder return policies, according to the announcement.

The boost plan will include monitoring of the group's management status, goals and performance evaluations in compliance with the government's value-up guidelines for listed firms here.

The announcement came after Korea Exchange CEO Jeong Eun-bo held a press conference Friday, encouraging local companies to participate in the directives by announcing individual plans from Monday.

Banking groups here saw an upswing in their share prices in recent months. Their shares have long been considered undervalued stocks in terms of their average price-to-book ratios.

The share price of KB Financial Group has surged by 43.5 percent compared to earlier this year, the firm said. Its stock price stood at 76,800 won ($56) as of 11:40 a.m. on Monday.

“Having signaled the beginning of the value-up program, KB Financial will lead to ease the Korea discount as an exemplary case,” an official from KB Financial said.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)