HANA FINANCIAL'S Q3 PROFIT JUMPS 22%

Hana Financial Group Inc. (KSE:086790), South Korea's fourth-largest financial company, reported on Friday a 22 per cent advance in its third quarter profit from three months earlier on a rise in lending profitability and decreased loan-loss provisions.

Hana Financial earned 240 billion won (US$203 million) of net profit in the July-September period, compared with 196.6 billion won three months earlier, it said in a regulatory filing.

It also switched back to the black from the third quarter last year when the company booked a shortfall of 73.3 billion won after setting aside substantial provisions to cover souring loans extended to ailing local firm Taesan LCD Co.

Revenue was still down 42 per cent from a year earlier to 6.5 trillion won, with operating profit switching to a gain of 310.9 billion won from a 146.6 billion won loss last year, Hana Financial said.

Shares of Hana Financial closed 0.98 per cent higher to 36,050 won on the Seoul bourse. The earnings results were released after the stock market closed.

Hana Bank, the banking unit of the financial company, also posted a 24 per cent on-quarter increase in its third-quarter net profit to 211.1 billion won. It swung back to a profit from a shortfall of 71.2 billion won a year earlier.

(Yonhap) rw

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