Hana to repurchase additional $104 million of its own shares to boost payouts

Hana said on Tuesday that it will repurchase and cancel an additional 150 billion won ($104 million) of its own shares in the fourth quarter after reporting higher year-on-year operating income but a drop in revenue and net profit in the third one.

The Hana Bank logo shown at its headquarters in Jung District, central Seoul on Feb. 2, 2020

Hana Financial Group said on Tuesday that it will repurchase and cancel an additional 150 billion won ($104 million) of its own shares in the fourth quarter after reporting higher year-on-year operating income but a drop in revenue and net profit in the third quarter.

The group's board of directors approved the share buyback and cancellation to pay a quarterly cash dividend of 920 won per share. Hana said the move is intended to accelerate its goal of raising the total shareholder return rate to 50 percent by 2027.

As of the third quarter, Hana had already repurchased 653.1 billion won in shares and plans to buy back an additional 8.03 billion won. Combined with the previously announced 1 trillion won in annual cash dividends, total shareholder returns for 2024 will reach 1.8 trillion won — the highest since the group’s founding, according to the company.

The group expects this year’s shareholder return ratio to increase from last year’s 38 percent rate, keeping it on track to meet its 50 percent target by 2027.

Hana Financial Group posted an operating profit of 1.48 trillion won in the third quarter, up 11 percent from a year earlier, to beat market expectations compiled by financial information tracker Yonhap Infomax by around 6.9 percent. Its revenue fell 0.8 percent to 10.89 trillion won, and net income slipped 2.1 percent to 1.14 trillion won.

Subsidiary Hana Bank recorded 1.35 trillion won in operating profit in the third quarter, up 8 percent from last year. Its revenue fell 9 percent from a year earlier to 6.77 trillion won, while net income rose 1.8 percent to 1.05 trillion won.

The bank posted strong noninterest income in the first nine months of this year on the back of record-high trading and valuation income and fee income, the company said.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]