Shinhan Financial Boosts Samsung Electronics Foreign Currency Loans by $770M

Shinhan Financial Group increased its foreign currency loans to Samsung Electronics by approximately 1.1 trillion won ($770 million), according to industry sources.

Shinhan also expanded credit to SK Hynix by more than 400 billion won, demonstrating visible progress in what the government calls "productive finance."

According to financial industry sources on the 22nd, Shinhan Financial's total credit exposure to Samsung Electronics stood at 2.8 trillion won at the end of last year, surging 65% compared to a year earlier.

All of the credit was in foreign currency loans. Shinhan Financial's foreign currency loans to Samsung Electronics reached 1.97 trillion won at the end of 2024, an increase of 1.1 trillion won in foreign currency lending alone.

Shinhan also significantly expanded its SK Hynix-related credit. The company's exposure to SK Hynix stood at 1.5 trillion won at year-end, up 430.6 billion won year-over-year—an increase exceeding 40%.

"Banks have been providing various forms of credit to large corporations as part of productive finance initiatives, including low-interest loans," a financial industry official said. "Although semiconductor companies are posting record profits, their future investment scale is astronomical, making it advantageous to diversify funding sources."

Shinhan Financial also held 1.13 trillion won in credit exposure to Lotte Chemical, which is currently undergoing restructuring, as of year-end. Including Lotte Hotel (1.75 trillion won), Shinhan's total exposure to Lotte Group reached 6.68 trillion won, ranking second only to Samsung Group (8.77 trillion won).

KB Financial has also been steadily strengthening support for Korea's top two semiconductor makers. KB Kookmin Bank provided 810 billion won in credit to SK Hynix as of year-end. As credit supply increased last year, SK Hynix entered KB Kookmin Bank's top 20 borrowers—a list it was not on in 2024.

KB continues supporting Samsung Electronics despite a decline in outstanding balance over the past year. KB Kookmin Bank's credit exposure to Samsung Electronics stood at 1.6 trillion won at year-end.

"With the government emphasizing productive finance, banks have been strengthening credit to large corporations," another financial industry official said. "There needs to be consideration of small and medium-sized enterprises being crowded out of lending, as well as potential increases in delinquency rates going forward."