iM Financial Group: Earnings Recovered Since 2024 While Shares Trade Below Book Value

Thesis

The data supports a recovery story: net income was ₩214.9B in 2024, ₩443.9B in 2025 and ₩430.2B over the trailing twelve months to H1 2026. Valuation is low, with a P/B of 0.5 against 0.8 to 1.0 for the large financial group peers, and a dividend yield of 4.0%.

What the data does not support is a clear view of earnings quality or direction. ROE is 7.0%, modest, and revenue figures are not available. Investor flows, foreign ownership and short balance data are also not available, and no news headlines were provided, so sentiment cannot be assessed.

Business overview

iM Financial Group is a holding company listed on KOSPI (code 139130). It was founded on 2011-05-17 and listed on 2011-06-07, with 166,392,833 listed shares. The CEO is 황병우. A filing in August 2026 refers to a subsidiary, iM뱅크, so banking appears to be part of the group, though the data gives no segment breakdown. Market cap is ₩2.9T, far smaller than KB Financial (₩62.1T) and Shinhan (₩49.8T) among the peers listed.

Financial analysis

Figures come from filed financial statements (DART). Revenue is not available, so operating and net margins cannot be calculated. Operating income was ₩534.3B in 2023, ₩263.4B in 2024 and ₩583.2B in 2025; TTM to H1 2026 is ₩552.3B. Net income was ₩387.8B, ₩214.9B and ₩443.9B for those years, and ₩430.2B on a TTM basis.

ROE was 6.5% in 2023, 3.6% in 2024, 7.3% in 2025 and 7.0% on a TTM basis. Liabilities to equity is 1,536.3%, which is high and typical of a financial holding structure. Cash is ₩4.0T against borrowings of ₩10.5T. TTM free cash flow is ₩353.0B, though how this applies to a financial group is not explained in the data.

Valuation

The current P/E is 6.8 and P/B is 0.5, compared with a year-end 2025 P/E of 5.8 and P/B of 0.4, so multiples have risen modestly alongside the share price. EV/EBITDA is 13.7 with an enterprise value of ₩9.3T. Dividend yield is 4.0%.

Among the peers provided, KB Financial has a P/E of 9.9 and P/B of 1.0, Shinhan 9.3 and 0.8, and Hana 8.6 and 0.8. SK Square (4.0, 2.4) and SK (4.9, 1.1) are holding companies but not direct financial-sector comparisons. The share price is ₩17,510 within a 52-week range of ₩13,050 to ₩22,000.

Catalysts

• The H1 2026 half-year report, filed 2026-08-14, showed TTM net income of ₩430.2B and ROE of 7.0%.
• Investor relations events were held on 2026-09-09 and 2026-09-30, giving management opportunities to discuss results.
• A shelf registration statement filed 2026-08-28 and amended filings for write-down-type contingent capital securities in September point to capital raising activity.
• A prospectus and securities issuance report were filed on 2026-09-11, indicating an issuance was completed.
• A loan decision by subsidiary iM뱅크 was disclosed on 2026-08-12.

Risks

• Leverage is high, with liabilities to equity of 1,536.3% and borrowings of ₩10.5T.
• Earnings have been volatile, with net income falling by roughly 45% in 2024 before recovering.
• ROE of 7.0% is modest, which may help explain the below-book valuation.
• The share price is 20.4% below its 52-week high and fell 5.1% in the last month.
• Revenue, investor flows, foreign ownership and short interest are not available, which limits the visibility of the analysis.

Closing view

The data shows a smaller financial holding company whose profits have recovered from a weak 2024 and whose shares trade at 0.5 times book value, below larger peers. Against that, ROE is only 7.0%, leverage is high, earnings have been uneven, and key data on revenue and investor positioning is missing. The evidence points to a low valuation tied to moderate returns and balance sheet risk rather than a clear mispricing.

Model estimate of fair value

The valuation model has no estimate for this company yet (not enough data, or no positive value with the base case).

Report history

1. Oct 13, 2026InitiationiM Financial Group: Earnings Recovered Since 2024 While Shares Trade Below Book Value