Hana Financial swings to loss in Q1

SEOUL, April 24 (Yonhap) -- Hana Financial Group Inc., South Korea's No. 4
financial services company, said Friday it swung to a loss in the first quarter
on higher loan-loss reserves.
Net loss amounted to 325 billion won (US$242 million) in the January-March
period, a turnaround from a net profit of 234.7 billion won the previous year,
the group said in a regulatory filing.
Sales jumped 100.9 percent on-year to 12.3 trillion won while operating loss came
to 418.1 billion won, it added.
Shares of the group closed up 3.28 percent at 22,050 won on the main bourse,
despite the red ink that was in line with a market consensus. The results came
after the stock market closed.
"The deficit came as we put aside more reserves to cover losses related to the
collapse of Taesan LCD Co. and one-off expenses and investment losses were
booked," a group official said.
Hana Group suffered losses after Taesan LCD, a local maker of parts used for
computer screens, collapsed due to losses from currency options contracts. The
won's sharp weakness prompted the company to incur heavy losses, dealing a blow
to Hana Group's balance sheets.
Hana Bank, the group's flagship unit, reported a net loss of 304.5 billion won
last quarter, compared with a profit of 223.7 billion won a year earlier, the
group said.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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