Woori Bank posts 46.4% gain in first-half net profit

Woori Bank, a major Korean commercial bank, said Thursday that its net profit in the first six months of this year jumped 46.4 percent from a year earlier, thanks to a solid gain in both interest and non-interest income.

Net profit jumped to 1.09 trillion won ($971 million) in the January-June period on a consolidated basis, the bank said in a statement.

It marked the biggest six-month profit since 2011, the company said.

For the second quarter this year, Woori Bank’s net profit soared 50.1 percent year on year to 460.8 billion won ($409 million). The bank attributed the rise to decreased loan-loss provisions and a rise in interest income. Woori Bank’s interest income came to 2.5 trillion won for the first half, up 62.3 billion won from a year earlier, it said. The bank’s net interest margin, a key barometer of profitability, stood at 1.45 percent in the second quarter, up 0.03 percentage point from the previous quarter. YONHAP