Seoul, South Korea - Hana Financial Group Inc. revealed on Friday that its third-quarter net profit stood at 963.4 billion won (US$711.9 million), marking a 15.4 percent decline compared to the same period last year.
According to a new release by Yonhap News Agency, the operating income for the July-September quarter decreased by 19.4 percent on-year to 1.18 trillion won. Sales for the same period dropped sharply by 42.8 percent to 17.85 trillion won. Despite these declines, the earnings surpassed market expectations. Analysts had projected an average net profit of 938.6 billion won, as per a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data arm of Yonhap News Agency.
For the first three quarters of the year, Hana Financial posted an accumulated net profit of 3 trillion won, up 3.51 percent from the same period last year. The group credited the on-year gain to an increase in both interest and noninterest income, coupled with a reduction in costs.
Additionally, Hana Financial has earmarked an accumulated reserve of over 1.21 trillion won, which includes 383.2 billion won set aside in the third quarter. This marks a 105 percent increase from the same period last year, indicating the group's robust capacity to absorb potential future losses.
The group's main entity, Hana Bank, reported a Q3 net profit of 929.8 billion won, up 5.91 percent from the previous year, driven by a significant uptick in noninterest income. Hana Bank's noninterest income for the first nine months amounted to 575.6 billion won, a 402.5 percent surge from the same period last year. This helped boost its accumulated net profit by 23.3 percent on-year to 522.6 billion won.
In contrast, Hana Securities, another subsidiary, recorded a net loss of 48.9 billion won for the third quarter, a reversal from its net profit of 146.3 billion won during the same quarter a year ago.