Seoul:BNK Financial Group announced a significant decline in its third-quarter net income, reporting a figure of 217.1 billion won (US$164.2 million), marking a 27.5 percent decrease from the same period last year.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the group's operating profit for the July-September period was 239.5 billion won, reflecting a 37 percent drop compared to the previous year. Despite these declines, sales for the financial conglomerate, which includes regional lenders like BNK Busan and BNK Kyongnam Bank, increased by 34.9 percent, reaching 3.1 trillion won.
The reported earnings fell short of market expectations, as analysts, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, had predicted an average net profit of 238.4 billion won.