Busan Bank net down 10.9 pct in 2009

SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Yonhap) -- Busan Bank, South Korea's provincial lender, said
Thursday its net profit shrank 10.9 percent in 2009 from a year earlier after
putting aside more loan-loss reserves due to global financial difficulties.
Net income came to 245.1 billion won (US$212.2 million) after taxes last year
while operating profit also contracted 17.6 percent on-year to 317.2 billion won,
Busan Bank said in a statement.
The bank said an increase in loan-loss provisions stemming from a contracting
real economy was the main driver for the weaker 2009 bottom line.
Non-performing loans, which reflect the quality of the bank's lending, stood at
1.09 percent of total lending as of the end of 2009, down from 1.31 percent a
year earlier, the bank said.
The capital adequacy ratio as measured under the rules put out by the Basel-based
Bank for International Settlement reached 14.7 percent at end-2009, up from 13.3
percent the previous year, according to Busan Bank. The capital figures are
preliminary.
Busan Bank set its 2010 earnings target at 305 billion won, the lender said.
Shares of the regional lender were trading at 11,600 won as of 1:53 a.m., down
1.28 percent from Wednesday's close.
The bank will pay 160 won per share in dividends, it said.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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