KB Financial Group Q1 net jumps over 5-fold

SEOUL, April 30 (Yonhap) -- KB Financial Group Inc., South Korea's No. 3
financial services company, said Thursday its first-quarter earnings jumped more
than five-fold from three months earlier due to decreased loan-loss reserves.
Net profit came to 238.3 billion won (US$184.3 million) in the January-March
period, up 443.2 percent from the previous quarter, the group said in a
regulatory filing.
Revenue, however, sank 33.2 percent on-quarter to 12 trillion won while operating
profit jumped more than 12 times to 420.9 billion won.
No comparable year-earlier figures were available as the financial group was
launched in late September with eight affiliates, including flagship Kookmin
Bank, under its wing.
"The group set aside less loan-loss reserves compared with the final quarter of
last year to brace for the corporate revamp move last quarter," an official at
the group said.
Shares of KB Financial closed up 6.14 percent at 39,750 won on the main bourse.
The results came after the market closed.
Kookmin Bank, the flagship unit of the group, posted a net profit of 159.1
billion won, down 74.8 percent from the previous year. The lender posted a net
loss of 318.5 billion won in the October-December period, the first quarterly
loss in four years.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)