Hana Financial Group Inc., a major financial holding group in South Korea, on Thursday reported a 22 percent jump in its first-quarter net profit on a sharp rise in non-interest income.
Net income came to 1.1 trillion won (US$829 million) on a consolidated basis in the January-March period, compared with a net profit of 902 billion won a year earlier.
Operating profit surged 38 percent on-year to 1.52 trillion won in the first quarter, while revenue fell 63.4 percent over the cited period to 22.4 trillion won.
The better-than-expected first-quarter earnings were led by a sharp rise in non-interest income tallied at 779 billion won, the best quarterly figure in five years and also up 53 percent from a year earlier.
The strong earnings were also attributed to robust growth in non-banking businesses, gains from securities trading and commission income.
Its gains from foreign exchange and securities trading was tallied at 480 billion won in the first quarter, up 136 percent from a year earlier.
Its commission income stood at 445 billion won, according to Hana Financial.
In contrast, its interest income fell 10.6 percent on-year to 2.62 trillion won over the cited period.
The group's flagship, Hana Bank, also saw its net income jump 46 percent on-year to 970.7 billion won.
Source: Yonhap News Agency