Korean Banks 2Q26 preview: Stronger than 1Q26 earnings

Research evidence excerpt

Korean Banks 2Q26 preview: Stronger than 1Q26 earnings

23 June 2026

Equities

Commercial Banks Korean Banks

2Q26 preview: Stronger than 1Q26 earnings Korea

◆ We expect another record high total quarterly earnings of Jaewoong Won*

KRW6.7trn, up c11% y-o-y, c13% above consensus Analyst,The HongkongKoreaandFinancialsShanghai& BankingFintech Corporation

Limited, Seoul Securities Branch

◆ NII to grow due to rising NIM and strong fee commission, jaewoong.won@kr.hsbc.com

despite losses from bond valuation and FX +82 2 3706 8770

Chan Park*

◆ Retain positive view on banks: prefer Buy-rated KB FG and Research Associate, Korea Autos & Financials The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation

Shinhan FG due to higher securities RoRWAs; adjust TPs Limited, Seoul Securities Branch chan.park@kr.hsbc.com

+822 3706 8713

Record high quarterly earnings again, following 1Q26: We expect the aggregate net

income (NI) of the five major banks under our coverage to reach KRW6.7trn (+10.8% y-o-

* Employed by a non-US affiliate of HSBC Securities (USA) Inc, and is

y, +11.1% q-o-q; 12.9% above market consensus), due to stable NIM growth, moderate not registered/ qualified pursuant to FINRA regulations.

loan growth and strong brokerage fee commissions (Exhibit 2). Despite prolonged

household loan restrictions, we expect total loans to grow by c0.5-1.5% q-o-q given

strong corporate loan growth. Household loans growth will be limited to some extent,

owing to overdraft/unsecured loans on the back of rising demand for loans for stock

investment. We expect NIMs to grow by 1-3bps q-o-q due to rising market rates (Exhibits

3-4). In addition, thanks to another record high daily trading volume in 2Q26, we expect

fee commission to remain high (Exhibits 5-6). Due to continuously rising market rates and