KB Financial Group logged an all-time high net profit of about 1.9 trillion won in the first quarter of this year, driven by improved outcomes in the non-banking sector.
KB Financial Group announced on April 23 that its net profit for the first quarter was 1.8924 trillion won, an 11.5% increase from the same period of 2025.
This marks the highest net profit not only for the first quarter but across all quarters.
KB Financial Group’ non-banking sector led the growth.
The financial group saw its non-interest income, including fees, climb by 27.8% to 1.6509 trillion won and its net fee income surge 45.5% to 1.3593 trillion won.
The share of the non-banking sector in the financial group’s profits also expanded to 43%.
By affiliate, KB Securities posted a net profit of 347.8 billion won, a 93.3% surge driven by increased commission revenue due to a boom in the Korean stock market, while KB Asset Management racked up 33.2 billion won, an increase of 111.5%.
On the other hand, KB Non-Life Insurance (200.7 billion won) and KB Life Insurance (79.8 billion won) saw their net incomes shrink 36% and 8.3%, respectively.
Harnessing this record-breaking performance, KB Financial Group carried out a large-scale shareholder return with 2.9 trillion won.
In relation to the mandatory cancellation of treasury shares following the amendment of the Commercial Act, the financial group decided to cancel all treasury shares, which accounted for approximately 3.8% of its total issued shares during May.
This amounted to approximately 2.3 trillion won, making it the largest single cancellation in the financial industry.
“Even amidst a phase of increased financial market volatility due to rising exchange rates and interest rates, as well as geopolitical risks, KB Financial Group’s net fee income ballooned significantly, centered on affiliates such as banking, securities, and asset management,” a KB Financial Group official said.
“Although a grace period of one year and six months was granted for mandatory cancellation, KB Financial Group decided to cancel its shares immediately following the amendment of the law to maximize our shareholder value.”
Participants in the 2026 KB Starters Welcome Day held at the KB Innovation Hub Center’s Gangnam Hub in Seoul on May 11.
Selection of KB Starters for 2026
On April 30, KB Financial Group selected 45 startups, including 30 domestic and 15 global companies, to participate in the 2026 KB Starters Program.
KB Starters is a startup incubation program launched in 2015, the first of its kind in the Korean financial industry.
To date, a cumulative total of 438 companies have been selected for KB Starters and KB Financial Group’s cumulative investment amounts to 308.9 billion won.
This recruitment attracted a large number of applications from companies in future innovation fields such as AI, deep tech and climate tech.
Out of a combined total of 452 domestic and global applicants, 45 companies — 30 domestic and 15 global — were finally selected following document and in-person screenings and interviews.
Both the domestic and global sectors recorded the highest competition rates in the last three years, confirming that KB Starters is drawing much attention from innovative companies as the financial sector’s leading startup incubation program.
This year, KB Financial Group expanded the selection fields and targets to reflect policy trends such as promoting youth entrepreneurship and fostering climate tech, along with the financial group’s future growth strategic direction including AI and embedded finance.
By discovering not only technology-based innovative companies but youth startups and regional hub companies, the program has contributed to expanding the foundation of startup ecosystems and promoting balanced regional development.
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