Woori Finance Q3 net halves on increased reserves

SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Yonhap) -- Woori Finance Holdings Co., South Korea's leading financial group, said Friday that its third-quarter earnings more than halved due to increased loan-loss reserves at its affiliates.

Net profit reached 158 billion won (US$121 million) in the July-September period,
compared with 323 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement.
Revenue more than tripled to 23 trillion won, but operating income dropped 54
percent to 254 billion won, it said.
In the first three quarters of the year, its cumulative profit sank 39 percent to
708 billion won.
Soaring write-offs for derivatives losses and increased reserves were
attributable to the decreased third-quarter profit, the financial holding company
said.
A collapse of small domestic companies, hit by the weak won and decreased
overseas sales, nudged loan delinquency and default ratios higher at South Korean
banks, while fee income from the sale of mutual funds declined due to faltering
financial markets.
Its total assets reached 329.7 trillion won at the end of September, up 14.7
percent, and its non-performing loan ratio fell 0.1 percentage point to 0.8
percent.
Meanwhile, Woori Bank, its key banking unit, saw its third-quarter profit fall 46
percent on-year to 133 billion won.
Its asset increased 28 trillion won from the end of last year to 247 trillion
won, and its bad loan ratio stood at 0.75 percent.
sam@yna.co.kr
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