President Kim Do-jin of the Industrial Bank of Korea. (IBK) (Photos:IBK)

The Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) emerged as a “Big Hand” in the entertainment industry following key investments in a number of films and musicals that turned out huge profits.

Financial sources said on Feb. 17 that the bank invested in two musicals, “Jekyll and Hyde,” and the “Lion King,” which were great hits. “Jekyll and Hyde” was a Broadway musical that enjoyed huge success when it debuted in 2004 with some 95 percent of the tickets sold for all of its performances.

The musical ranked the atop ticket reservation ratio when it opened in the first week of February this year. The accumulated number of audience members has so far hit 1.2 million.

IBK invested 1 billion won for a 7.69 percent share of the 13 billion won that was invested in “Jekyll and Hide.” IBK also invested 1.7 billion won in “Lion King.” Officials of the bank said they expect a 30 percent return on the investment in “Jekyll and Hide.” IBK also invested in a hit movie, “Extreme Job,” which had more than 10 million audience and the success has been attributed to the special know-how that the bank has in the cultural content businesses.

A slew of the posters of the movies and musicals including the Jekyll and Hyde and the Lion King in which the IBK enjoyed substantial returns from its investments.

The state-run lender is drawing attention after the latest movie, "Extreme Job," became a mega-success by attracting more than 13 million people to the cinema, which is estimated to bring the bank around a 200 percent gain from its 800 million won ($710,000) investment.

According to the Korea Film Council (KOFIC), 13.24 million people have seen the movie as of Feb. 13, less than a month after it hit the box office, Jan. 2.

Given the break-even point of the movie was $2.4 million, the investment is seen as a resounding success. IBK has put up a combined 790 million won, 700 million won in direct investment and 90 million won in loans. The amount is the second largest following CJ E&M, the main investor and distributor of the movie.

IBK's successful investment portfolio includes a 2 billion won investment in "Along With the Gods" series: "The Two Worlds" and "The Last 49 Days."

The bank set up a unit in 2012 in charge of cultural content for the first time in the financial industry. It has dished out a total of 2.7 trillion won so far in the form of loans and investments in the industry.

The bank also invested 100 million won annually in independent and low-budget films under contracts with the Lotte Culture Works and the Korea Film Council.

They said the system they developed to analyze the factors for the success and failure boosted the safety of the decisions that went into make investments. The bank will continue to make investments diverse genres in the entertainment industry including dramas, films, and musicals, they said.