Seoul: The Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) announced a 6.5 percent decline in its third-quarter net income, amounting to 751.2 billion won (approximately US$527.9 million), as revealed on Thursday. The drop in net income is attributed to the challenges posed by a weaker Korean won.
According to Yonhap News Agency, IBK's operating income for the July-September period stood at 976.7 billion won, reflecting a 13.3 percent decrease from the previous year. The company also reported a 9.5 percent decline in revenue, bringing in 5.85 trillion won. An IBK official noted that the reduction in non-interest income was primarily due to foreign exchange valuation losses, which stemmed from the weaker won against the U.S. dollar.
Despite the third-quarter setbacks, IBK's cumulative net profit for the first nine months of the year rose by 2.8 percent year-on-year, reaching a record high of 2.26 trillion won (US$1.46 billion). This increase was largely driven by higher interest income, resulting from increased lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as gains associated with securities holdings.