South Korean financial institutions report positive 2015 earnings
(8 February 2016 – South Korea) South Korea’s major financial groups reported positive earnings results in 2015 despite challenging business environment and market volatility driven by China.
Shinhan Financial Group (SFG) leading the pack by netting a profit of more than 2 trillion won (A$2.34 billion) for a second consecutive year in 2015. SFG on Thursday revealed that net income surged 14 percent year-on-year to 2.37 trillion won in 2015, 7 percent above the financial group’s annual average net profit of 2.2 trillion won for the past eight years.
SFG profits were largely led by strong performance in its non-banking units including securities and credit card.
KB Financial Group Inc., the operator of KB Kookmin Bank, recorded a net profit of 1.69 trillion won in 2015, a 21.2 percent increase from a year ago. Growth was mainly led by a strong performance in its loan business. During the October-December period, however, KB Financial Group’s net income reached 347.1 billion won, down 16.3 percent from the previous three months. An official from the financial group said that its on-quarter net profit shrank in the process of filling in 412.8 billion won worth in loss reserves amid ongoing corporate restructuring.
Woori Bank Co., South Korea’s third-largest lender, also announced that its 2015 net income reached 1.06 trillion won, up 143.3 percent from year earlier. The surge in earnings comes despite the spin-off of its brokerage and regional bank affiliates. The lender credited positive earnings to a stable increase in profit from interest fees and commissions as well as a drop in bad loan expenses. In the October-December period, Woori Bank also managed to turn around to a surplus of 219.2 billion won. For the full year in 2015, Woori Card registered 116.9 billion won in net profit, and Woori Investment Bank a net of 10.4 billion won.
Hana Financial Group was disappointed with on an year-on-year fall of 0.09 percent in net profit of 936.8 billion won after it reflected 505 billion won in expenses for its merger with Korea Exchange Bank and early retirement payout.
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