Major banks' earnings may have dropped nearly 15 percent on-year in the first half of the year amid economic uncertainties and increased bad loans, data showed Tuesday.
The combined net income of the country's four major banking groups, including Woori Finance Holdings Co. and KB Financial Group Inc., and Industrial Bank of Korea and Korea Exchange Bank is estimated to have fallen 14.6 percent on-year to 7.95 trillion won ($6.96 billion) in the first half, according to financial information provider FnGuide.
Top player Woori Finance is likely to have posted a profit of 1.11 trillion won in the first six months of the year, compared with a profit of 1.29 trillion won a year earlier.
KB Financial is expected to have racked up a profit of 1.16 trillion won in the January-June period, down 26.3 percent from a year earlier and Shinhan Financial Group Co. is forecast to have suffered a drop of 20 percent in its first-half profit to reach 1.5 trillion won, the data showed.
But Hana Financial Group Inc. is expected to see its first-half earnings rise 1.68 trillion won from 869 billion won over the cited period after it took over Korea Exchange Bank early this year, the data showed.
Industrial Bank of Korea is projected to have logged a profit of 834 billion won in the first half, a sharp drop of 16.2 percent from a year earlier. Korea Exchange Bank is also likely to see its first-half profit has sank 62 percent on-year to reach 509 billion won
The weaker bottom line projection comes as banks faced a set of downside risk factors such as the slowing economic growth and rising bad loans.
But some analysts said the local banks' first-half performance was not so bad as they logged gains of up to 3 trillion won last year by selling stakes in Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co.
Analysts said local banks' earnings may decline down the road on mounting bad loans.
The bad loan ratios of banks in South Korea have risen this year due to a rise in fresh loan delinquency caused by the sluggish economy and weak property market.
Local banks' non-performing loans accounted for 1.37 percent of their total lending as of the end of May, compared with 0.89 percent at the end of last year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.
"Economic uncertainties and the likelihood of persistent sluggishness in the property market may jack up bad loans and eat into banks' profits," said an official at Woori Bank. (Yonhap)