Seoul: Woori Financial Group Inc. announced a slight increase in its second-quarter net profit, attributing the growth to a rise in interest income. The financial group recorded a net profit of 935 billion won (approximately US$680 million) for the April-June period, marking a 0.3 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Woori Financial reported an operating profit of 1.1 trillion won for the second quarter, a decline from 1.25 trillion won recorded a year earlier. However, revenue saw a substantial rise of 24.7 percent, reaching 13.57 trillion won. These earnings surpassed market expectations, as analysts, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, had projected an average net profit of 827.5 billion won.
The financial group highlighted a 3 percent year-on-year increase in interest income, which amounted to 2.26 trillion won in the second quarter, while non-interest income experienced a slight decrease of 1.3 percent, totaling 527 billion won. The group's net interest margin, reflecting the difference between interest received and paid, improved marginally to 1.71 percent, up 0.01 percentage point from the previous year.
For the first half of the year, Woori Financial Group reported a total profit of 1.55 trillion won, which is a decrease from the 1.76 trillion won profit achieved during the same period the previous year.