Woori Financial Group Inc. on Friday said its first-quarter net profit dropped by nearly 10 percent on a fall in interest income and a loss from equity ties with its key affiliates, such as Woori Bank.
Its net profit reached 824 billion won (US$599 million) in the first quarter, down 9.8 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Operating profit for the January-March period fell 8.21 percent on-year to 1.15 trillion won. Revenue increased 2.36 percent to 12.85 trillion won.
Its interest income fell 0.9 percent on-year to 2.19 trillion won in the first quarter, with its non-interest income rising 5.7 percent to 351 billion won.
The group’s net interest margin, the difference between interest received and paid, came to 1.7 percent in the first quarter, up 0.02 percentage point from a year earlier.
Woori Bank suffered an 8.4 percent on-year drop in its net profit to 789 billion won.
Woori Financial said it set aside some 75 billion won in reserves for the compensation of incomp
lete sales involving equity-linked securities products tracking Hong Kong’s H Index, far smaller than its rivals.
Source: Yonhap News Agency