KB Financial Group: Robust 2Q earnings with fee expansion and credit cost reduction; ROE hikes to extend re-rating rally; OW

Research evidence excerpt

KB Financial Group: Robust 2Q earnings with fee expansion and credit cost reduction; ROE hikes to extend re-rating rally; OW

J P M O R G A N Asia Pacific Equity Research

24 July 2026

KB Financial Group Overweight

105560.KS, 105560 KS

Robust 2Q earnings with fee expansion and credit cost Price (23 Jul 26):W176,800

reduction; ROE hikes to extend re-rating rally; OW Price Target (Jun-27):W220,000

KB delivered record-high net profit of W2.0tn, ~5% above heightened Street Diversified Banks

ACexpectations. While NII softened on a sharper NIM contraction (~3bps by pre- Jihyun Cho

emptive funding efforts) alongside one-off accounting impacts, the top line proved (82-2) 758-5480

resilient; (1) a positive surprise in non-interest income (strong fee growth and jihyun.cho@jpmorgan.com

higher trading gains) and (2) well-contained credit costs after conservative Tae Wook Kim

provisioning. Strong earnings lifted CET1 to 13.74% (+10bps q/q) in 2Q26, (82-2) 758-5719

enabling incremental shareholder returns. On top of the W405bn quarterly cash taewook.kim@jpmorgan.com

J.P. Morgan Securities (Far East) Limited, Seoul

dividend, management confirmed excess capital of W880bn to be used for 2H26 Branch

shareholder return budgets via (1) a W700bn buyback/cancellation over the next

six months and (2) the remaining W180bn via either an additional 2026 buyback

or a higher year-end dividend. Including the W2.82tn shareholder return package Key Changes (FYE Dec)

announced in Feb-26, we expect ~W3.7tn total shareholder returns in 2026E (c. Prev Cur Δ

Adj. EPS - 26E (W) 18,670 19,017 1.9%

55% TSR). Given strong earnings and progressive shareholder returns, we expect

KB to achieve 11%+ ROE in 2026 and 12% ROE by 2028E, implying upside Quarterly Forecasts (FYE Dec)