IBK to raise 360 bln won via share sales

SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's state-owned Industrial Bank of Korea
(IBK) said Monday it has decided to raise 360 billion won (US$276.9 million) by
selling shares in a bid to prop up its capital base.

In a regulatory filing, the lender, which mainly caters to smaller firms, plans
to sell 49.3 million shares to the government.
South Korean lenders are struggling to jack up their declining capital adequacy
ratio, a key barometer of financial soundness that measures the percentage of a
bank's capital to its risk-weighted credit.
The bank's capital adequacy ratio stood at 10.15 percent as of the end of
September, down from 10.49 percent from three months earlier.
To give a boost to local banks' efforts, the government is seeking to set up a 20
trillion won fund this month to be used to buy preferred stocks, subordinated
bonds and hybrid debt sold by lenders. Local banks are to tap the fund on a
voluntary basis.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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