Busan Bank`s H1 net slumps 33.7 pct

SEOUL, July 23 (Yonhap) -- Busan Bank, South Korea's leading provincial lender,
said Thursday its earnings plunged 33.7 percent in the first half of this year
from a year earlier, dented by increased loan-loss reserves.
Net income stood at 112 billion won (US$89.7 million) in the January-June period,
compared with 169 billion won in the same period last year, the lender said in a
regulatory filing.
The lender's bottom line for the second quarter reached 70.4 billion won,
compared with 84.7 billion won a year earlier, Busan Bank said.
Revenue, however, gained 28.8 percent on-year to 1.8 trillion won during the six
months, while operating profit tumbled 40.4 percent to 138.3 billion won.
Shares of Busan Bank closed at 11,050 won on the Seoul bourse, up 5.74 percent
from Wednesday's close.
The earnings slump came after the lender increased provisions to cover souring
loans amid an economic downturn, Busan Bank said.
As of the end of June, the rate of non-performing loans stood at 1.58 percent, up
from 0.64 percent a year earlier. Its capital adequacy ratio, a key measure of
financial soundness, was 14.74 percent, it said.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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