Woori Financial Group posts W1.05tr profit for second straight quarter

Woori Financial Group said Friday its third-quarter net profit reached 1.05 trillion won ($792 million), the first time since the group's founding that it has exceeded 1 trillion won in net profit for two consecutive quarters.

Cumulative net operating revenue for the first three quarters rose 6.2 percent year-on-year to 8.68 trillion won, an all-time high. Woori Financial said the growth was driven by expanded interest income from corporate-lending-focused loan growth and higher non-interest income from its non-banking units.

Cumulative net profit for the period came to 2.66 trillion won, down 4.9 percent from a year earlier. Excluding one-time gains such as the bargain purchase gain from last year's insurance company acquisition, the figure rose 18.7 percent year-on-year, Woori Financial added.

Woori Bank's won-denominated loans outstanding stood at 313 trillion won as of end-September, up 4.1 percent from the end of last year. The group's cumulative interest income for the first three quarters rose 4.5 percent year-on-year to 7.04 trillion won.

Non-interest income also continued its upward trend, climbing 13.9 percent year-on-year to 1.64 trillion won.

Rising long-term interest rates weighed on securities-related gains, but the consolidation of the insurance subsidiary and expanded synergies among affiliates contributed to overall revenue growth.

The cost-to-income ratio for the third quarter improved 0.8 percentage points year-on-year to 42.3 percent. The credit cost ratio fell 0.10 percentage points year-on-year to 0.42 percent.

Cumulative operating profit for the first three quarters rose 19.5 percent year-on-year to 3.54 trillion won. Return on equity for common shares improved from 9.0 percent in the first half to 9.9 percent through the third quarter, reflecting stronger capital efficiency.

Woori Bank, the group's core subsidiary, posted third-quarter net profit of 1.03 trillion won, up 22 percent quarter-on-quarter and the highest quarterly earnings on record. Its cumulative net profit for the first three quarters reached 2.4 trillion won, up 4.68 percent from the same period last year.

Woori Financial Group's board resolved Friday to pay a third-quarter dividend of 220 won per share. The group is the only bank holding company in South Korea to offer a tax-exempt dividend.

In September last year, Woori Financial announced plans to channel 80 trillion won into productive and inclusive finance over five years through its "Future Co-Growth Project." In the year since the project's launch, the group deployed a total of 34.7 trillion won — 33.3 trillion won in productive finance and 1.4 trillion won in inclusive finance — reaching 38.5 percent of its five-year target.