IBK Q2 net jumps 20.9 pct on lower loss reserves

IBK Q2 net jumps 20.9 pct on lower loss reserves

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SEOUL, Aug. 5 (Yonhap) -- The state-run Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) said Friday its second-quarter net profit surged 20.9 percent from a year earlier, helped by decreased loan-loss reserves.
Net profit reached 480.9 billion won (US$451 million) in the April-June period, compared with 397.8 billion won in the previous year, the group said in a regulatory filing.
The bottom line was stronger than the market consensus of 468.3 billion won in a poll of analysts by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency.
However, revenue slumped 22.7 percent on-year to 4.5 trillion won, while operating profit gained 27.2 percent to 643.6 billion won.
In the first half of the year, net income reached 993.1 billion won, compared with 860.4 billion won in profit a year earlier, it added.
Shares of IBK closed at 17,050 won, down 2.57 percent from Thursday's close. The results were announced after the stock market closed.
The state-run lender said it set aside 265.6 billion in loan-loss provisions for the second quarter, down from 580.8 billion won a year earlier.
Meanwhile, IBK's net interest margin, or the gap between deposit and lending rates, inched down 0.01 percentage point on-quarter to 2.66 percent as of end-June.
The lender's total assets reached 184.1 billion won as of the end of the second quarter, down from 188.5 billion won three months earlier.