-->Völlig unbeachtet wieder ein Rekordverlust bei Kookmin Bank...

Bank to focus on bad loans and raising commission income in '04

SEOUL Kim Jung Tae, president of Kookmin Bank, has said Kookmin, South Korea's largest lender, posted a net loss in 2003 because of rising defaults.
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The loss was"regrettable," Kim said in a speech to employees on Friday. Though he did not provide a specific loss figure, Kim estimated that the bank's 2003 operating profit before provisions exceeded 5 trillion won, or $4.2 billion. He added that the bank would continue to focus on disposing of bad loans.
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Profits at Korean banks and credit card companies fell by two-thirds in the first nine months of last year after a 30 percent surge in household debt in 2002 left more than 3.65 million Koreans at least three months overdue on their debt payments.
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"Last year was a tough year for Kookmin and other banks," said Han Jeong Tae, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.
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Han said he expected Kookmin's earnings to surge this year because the bank addressed its bad loan problems in 2003. He forecast that Kookmin would report a profit of 2.2 trillion won in 2004, from an estimated loss of 100 billion won last year.
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The Seoul-based bank posted a record loss of 341.4 billion won in the third quarter of 2003 because of provisions for bad credit card assets. It set aside 842.6 billion won against the bank's loans to companies, cardholders and individuals in the third quarter.
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Kim, the Kookmin president, said that he expected competition from foreign rivals to increase this year. Foreign investors control about 30 percent of South Korea's banking industry, up from just 1 percent in 1997.
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Standard Chartered, a British bank that makes about two-thirds of its profit in Asia, and Singapore's state-owned Temasek Holdings, have said that they are interested in buying a 36.7 percent stake in Koram Bank, South Korea's sixth-biggest lender.
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Carlyle Group and J.P. Morgan Chase are selling the holding. HSBC Holdings and Citigroup are also reportedly interested in buying the stake. The government is also selling stakes in Woori Finance Holdings, the country's third-largest lender, and Hana Bank, the No.4 lender.
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"We should pay more attention to meeting customers' needs," Kim said, adding that Kookmin plans to focus on managing loan risks and increasing commission incomes.
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The bank aims to generate 27 percent of its overall income this year through the sale of more investment trust products and insurance policies. The bank generated about 22 percent of its overall income from such businesses last year.
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Bloomberg News