IBK net sinks 40% in 3rd quarter

The state-run Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) said Friday its third-quarter net profit dipped 39.9 percent from a year earlier due largely to decreased interest and non-interest income.

Net income amounted to 246.8 billion won ($227.6 million) on a consolidated basis in the July-September period, compared with a profit of 410.3 billion won a year earlier, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

IBK mostly caters to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Revenue fell 14.7 percent on-year to 4.51 trillion won in the third quarter, and operating income tumbled 48.3 percent to 313.6 billion won in the same period, it added.

Shares of IBK closed at 12,150 won on the main bourse, up 1.67 percent from Thursday's close. The result came out after the market closed.

Compared with three months earlier, its third-quarter net profit declined 20.2 percent. The cumulative net income reached 1.03 trillion won, down 26.8 percent from a year ago.

The third-quarter bottom line fell short of the market consensus of 276.3 billion won in a poll of analysts by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency.

The bank suffered a 7.4 billion won loss from investments in the last quarter, due largely to losses in local builder Kumho Engineering & Constructions Co., it said.

The IBK's net interest margin (NIM), a key barometer of profitability, reached 2.08 percent in the third quarter, down 0.1 percentage point from three months earlier, due mainly to lending rate cuts.

Its total assets reached 213.4 trillion won as of the end of September, up from 208.6 trillion won tallied in the previous quarter. (Yonhap)