KBs net earnings jump more than double

KB Financial Group Inc., South Korea's second-largest service company by assets, saw its net earnings more than double in the first quarter from a year earlier thanks to widening profit margins from loan issuance and less loan-loss reserves, the group said Friday.

Net income reached 572.68 billion won (US$516.72 million) in the January-March period, compared with 238.3 billion won recorded in the same period last year, KB Financial said in a regulatory filing.

Revenue, however, shrank 39.8 percent year-on-year to 7.22 trillion won, it said.

Shares of KB Financial ended at 54,500 won on the Seoul bourse, up 0.93 percent from Thursday's close.