(South Korea) – Korea’s biggest consumer lender, Kookmin Bank, is expected to post a net loss for the final quarter of 2002 as a result of higher provisioning.Kookmin, which has the Bank of New York, ING Insurance, and Goldman Sachs as major shareholders, is expected to set aside as much as 70 percent more to cover possible loan losses in the final quarter, compared with Q3.
South Korean banks are increasingly provisioning for possible loan loss as a result of the volatile economy.
Kookmin is set to report this week.