THE KANAGAWA BANK, LTD. (E03672) Stock Price

Kanagawa Bank is a regional bank focused on the Kanagawa Prefecture area, providing financial services closely tailored to local communities. Through its headquarters and 33 branches, the company offers a wide range of financial services, from basic banking operations such as deposits and loans to the sale of securities and insurance products.

The company's primary customers are local individuals and small-to-medium enterprises. Its core revenue comes from interest income generated by the spread between deposit and lending rates. Additionally, the company positions commissions from securities investment trusts and government bond sales, as well as insurance agency commissions, as important revenue sources.

The company's business operations are divided into banking and other businesses, with banking further subdivided into three segments: banking operations, securities operations, and insurance window sales. Banking operations include deposits, loans, and foreign exchange services; securities operations include the sale of government bonds and investment trusts as well as securities investments; and insurance operations include over-the-counter sales of various insurance products. The consolidated subsidiary Kanagawa Bank Business Service handles related operations such as merchandise distribution.

Kanagawa Bank is pursuing its 13th Medium-Term Management Plan titled "Community-Focused Kanagawa Bank Bonds ~Together with You~" with targets to achieve gross operating profit of 8 billion yen or more and net operating profit of 2 billion yen or more by March 31, 2024. The bank has set business expansion goals of 505 billion yen or more in deposits and 395 billion yen or more in loans. By maintaining small and medium-sized enterprise lending at 90% or above of total loans, the bank demonstrates its commitment to community-focused banking. Based on performance exceeding initial targets, the bank has revised upward its business-purpose lending client base target to 5,500 or more, charting steady growth.

The bank's core strategy focuses on sales operations specialized in small and medium-sized enterprises and individual customers in Kanagawa Prefecture, with expanded consulting-based sales addressing management challenges at each life stage. As a differentiation strategy, the bank has established a Local Business Support Office and Money Advisor Team within the sales division, and a Management Support Group within the credit review division, building specialized teams to address diverse customer needs. Through customer information management systems and asset management proposals, the bank pursues becoming the bank customers consult first, achieving true primary banking status.

For business expansion, the bank strengthens existing branch functions and builds efficient sales channels to enhance regional presence. Through its regional specialization strategy in Kanagawa Prefecture's densely populated area, the bank pursues deep-rooted sales in a focused territory and creates new business opportunities through community revitalization initiatives. The bank actively responds to demand for COVID-19 relief financing and other support, strengthening assistance activities to help regional businesses maintain operations.

Regarding technological innovation, the bank positions digital transformation strategy as one of five priority strategies, promoting cross-organizational implementation of digital technologies. Coordinating with human resources and organizational strategy, the bank pursues efficient operations while setting a target to maintain the expense ratio at 73% or below, aiming to achieve both operational efficiency through digitalization and improved customer service. Through these initiatives, the bank seeks to establish itself as an increasingly prominent regional banking presence.