Industrial Bank of Korea Q4 net plunges 89 pct

SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- The state-owned Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) said
Thursday it fourth-quarter earnings plunged 89.2 percent on-year on higher
loan-loss reserves.
Net income stood at 15.4 billion won (US$11 million) in the October-December
period, compared with 144.3 billion won a year earlier, IBK said in a regulatory
filing.
For all of 2008, net profit fell 34.3 percent on-year to 767 billion won, the
lender said.
The fall in fourth-quarter net profit is attributable to increasing reserves
against an expected rise in risky loans as a number of builders and shipmakers
are set to undergo restructuring on falling sales, said IBK, which specializes in
lending to smaller firms.
The bank said it set aside 143.2 billion won in reserves last quarter.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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